Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
a Chinese version of the GiaGem Proportionscope. it seems the apprach is slightly different here though: focusing is provided by the built-in objective instead of relying on the complicated (but effective) movable mirrors setup contained in the GiaGem unit. teorethically it should work but....since we are dealing with a shadow projection, if the angles are not 100% precise, you may end up with wrong values. I mean, Chinese stuff are not famous for their reliability from this point of view....
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
considering the original one was for sale years for roughly 4/5 times, that price is not so outrageous. Anyway, have you ever consider to go for an ocular version? that should be in the range of 5-600 $ IIRC....
I am not trying to convince you to buy any gemological equipments made in China (yet), but I think Fable is the brand that you may try your hands on when there is one around.
It is a pretty aggressive brand popped up in the last few year that provided (copied - but with modifications) the full line of gemological products you can find in the market at a decent quality, including a CZ refractometer (RI1.35-1.85 range, accuracy 0.002, batteries & AC powered, with internal monochromic light...). Recently, they carried their in house FTIR, XRF, UV-VIS spectrometers...
Warn you that their stuffs are not cheap. Their products are marketed at around 50%-70% (or more) of Ecikhorst’s price - even when you buy them in China, or online at taobao.com, alibaba.com.
Personally, I won’t touch their microscope/ loupes yet, because the lens material, ultra fine polishing and formula for coating, etc. are not something they can copy (i.e. scratch/dig ratio was not specified). But other than that, I will use the “trying before buying” approach at this moment - because again, they are not cheap.
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 11:24 am Posts: 7523 Location: Rome, Italy
slscanada wrote:
It is a pretty aggressive brand popped up in the last few year that provided (copied - but with modifications) the full line of gemological products you can find in the market at a decent quality, including a CZ refractometer (RI1.35-1.85 range, accuracy 0.002, batteries & AC powered, with internal monochromic light...). Recently, they carried their in house FTIR, XRF, UV-VIS spectrometers...
i browsed their stuff, i was interested especially in their spectrometers but found some details that puzzles me.... they advertise their UV-Vis with a range of 225-1100 nm.....why not including IR in the description? Going down to 225 nm in a decent efficient way requires specific source (Deutherium, Xenon..), i don't see any mention of it. quoting from details: " Sample mode: Integrating Spheres & Probe" , i don't see any probe and, the image shows a squared box with a frontal lid.....i am not sure it contains an integrating sphere...... "their" FTIR is the standard Thermo is-5 with what it seems to be a PIKE sampling module for specular reflection.....if this is really the setup they are providing, the features are limited to specular reflectance only, which means you are missing 90% of the gemological capabilities..... The most important thing in common for all the systems featured: i don't see any mention of Database or libraries provided... Of course i could be wrong and it seems the 2nd link contains slightly more specific features but...it seems it's available in Chinese language only....
sidenote: after this post i will be very likely smashed by Mikko for commenting (giving advices?) other manufacturers products (which we never do ) but in this particular case I felt the need to clarify some aspects a common gemologist may not get, exclusively with the purpose of sharing knowledge........which is why me, him and all the other members are - or should be - here......
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