Keeping in mind that I am not a gemologist, nor do I intend to become certified, I am looking for a set up for examining stones. There is a wide range of prices and equipment.
Since I am starting with nothing I thought that a kit of some kind would be best. I am looking at the The PORTAPAC, the Student or Graduate gem kit, or the The Standard Gem Travel Lab, so prices range from $395.00 to $2,695.00 and none come with a Chelsea filter so I would want that also.
Joined: Sat Jun 02, 2007 8:03 pm Posts: 179 Location: N. Idaho
I was asked a similar question recently and this is what I put together. I am not in favor of small lab sets. Full size setups are what you need if you want them to be truly useful on a regular basis. Each of these pieces is high quality. You can spend more money but you won't get greater value. The polariscope is an exception. You can find one cheaper and it won't make a difference.
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
I would start with a refractometer (with built in sodium filter)
recommend Kassoy's Gem-A unit
a polariscope (with coniscope),this can also function as the light for the refractometer, Kruss and GIA make good ones
and a good loupe.
Also useful would be a carat scale, like Tanita with a unit for determining Specific gravity.
I would not invest in a 395.00 polariscope as it is a 20 dollar tool. Just buy a few sheets from hanneman instruments and tape them on your microscope (or balance them over the transmitted light source). Works like a charm and you get magnification to observe them pesky interference figures.
But you do need a good conoscope sphere.
Joined: Sun Oct 29, 2006 11:43 pm Posts: 514 Location: North Carolina
Raw Rocks,
Before you lay out all that money, buy Bill Hanneman's book, "Guide to Affordable Gemology" and then you will rethink what you need to buy.
A friend was taking the final course(s) for her GG under the mentoring of an older friend, a GG for 20 years. They borrowed my copy of the book, then bought their own copy and then significantly revised their equipment. In the case of the new GG that meant buying a lot less, different, and less expensive equipment. That particular friend works with colored stones all day, every day.
The book will explain what each tool is, how they are used, discuss if and how you need it, etc. and often present much less expensive alternatives, such as a polariscope made out of a comb and two sunglass lenses.
My interest in this equipment is through faceting. I want to be able to see if the rough is what I bought it as. Not as a GG intention, though there are so many simple suggestions in the book as to how to identify stones, it blows everybody's minds.
If you are not, and you say you are not, going to become a professional GG, then this may be a better course for you than buying the equipment of a well stocked GG lab. Sometimes it is easier to keep it simple.
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