want to buy a loupe

[soxfan]

To keep at home to check my prongs every once and while. Any suggestions?

 

[kenny]

Budget?

You can spend from $3 to $550.
All are worth what they cost to the appropriate customer.

I hear Belomo is a great value for a fine loupe. $36.
http://www.belomo.us/internet.html

I recommend selecting the 10x for overall use.

 

[thediamondshopper]

If you are just interested in looking at the prongs, any loupe will do, amazon has some great ones for a few dollars. The more expensive types would come into play if you were using them to view clarity characteristics, the cheap ones will do this as well to some extent. I personally use a nikon and a schneider but that would be overkill.

 

[ice empress]

I just bought a PEER 18mm-10x triplet loupe in Toronto's diamond district for $20. It works more than well enough for my amateur needs.

The seller recommended the black matte model over the silver and gold ones, to minimize colour distortions... something you may want to keep in mind when picking the colour. He also said that Bausch and Lomb's models are an excellent value with great lenses (~$35)

 

[soxfan]

Thanks for the suggestions! I recently realized that there is a feather in my diamond on the edge of the girdle that I can SEE in only very bright light However, if I take the ring off and flip it the other way, I can't see it. So I guess my diamond has a birthmark!

Yeah, I just wanted it to check prongs, nothing else, otherwise I'm scared I'll find more stuff I can see!

 

[arkieb1]

Budget?

You can spend from $3 to $550.
All are worth what they cost to the appropriate customer.

I hear Belomo is a great value for a fine loupe. $36.
http://www.belomo.us/internet.html

I recommend selecting the 10x for overall use.

+ 1 - I have a Belomo 10 x and they are amazing and heavy duty ie hard to destroy as well.

 

[cmrocks]

I use these at work (geologist).

http://www.bausch.com/en/Our-Products/Low-Vision-Product/Professional-Magnifiers/Hastings-Triplet-Magnifiers

I have a 10x and 20x. The 10x is enough for what you want. The 20x is really good though, it's enough to clearly see crystal faces, the angle between them etc.