Post subject: An ok hobbyist microscope for most gems?
Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 6:03 pm
Established Member
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:29 am Posts: 16
Good day all, This forum has been such a joy, am up reading late into the night on so many topics. What a wonderful grouping of gem nuts/experts in one place!! I've decided to buy a low budget hobbyist microscope and after reading threads with suggestions of companies, have looked at AmScope. I don't want to spend more than $300, not sure what am looking for, but does this particular scope look like it could be used for general gemstone magnification, perhaps with a few modifications? https://www.amscope.com/student-microsc ... iew_tabbed I like that you can view things on a computer screen, I guess save images for comparison, but is this missing something I really need for looking at gemstones? More/less X the better? Stereo? I'm completely ignorant on what I need. Any yay or nay is appreciated.
Microscopes are great, and they open up a whole new world of gem understanding and appreciation. A couple of notes. The microscope you've linked is a compound biological scope, and has very limited utility for looking at gems--I have one and occasionally use it for looking at very fine features, but for routine work it's basically useless.
What you need instead is a stereo microscope. They are set up with two independent light paths so you get a true 3D image, and have a long working distance (distance between the bottom of the scope and the gem) so you can easily hold and turn a gem beneath them.
For routine work with gemstones you want one that has a gem clip (nice claw holder you can rotate and pose), brightfield and darkfield illumination (brightfield is lighting the stone from below, darkfield from the sides only on a dark background), and the base should tilt for ergonomics. You also want magnification up to about 60x. That said, some of these are more necessary than others for hobby usage.
I would not recommend buying new from Amscope--these are fairly cheap Chinese microscopes, and while some of the higher-end Chinese scopes are pretty good the lower-end ones really aren't as amazing. You can generally do a lot better by buying a higher-quality microscope used.
300 is a bit tight, but enough to get something good. There is a ton of older discussion here about microscopes, which can be found using the search function, but we can also try to sort out what you need more directly. Depending on what you want to use it for, a proper gem microscope might not be the best option--they're the best for routine gem examination, but it's harder to examine other things (like mineral specimens) on a gem base, so if that's also something you want to do you might want to get a stereo microscope with a flat base and a fiber optic illuminator to go with it, which you can use for a wide variety of subjects.
That all said: if gems are specifically what you want to look at, you should go snap this one up right away: https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMERICAN-OPTIC ... 3987472206 It is an old GIA microscope with a nice classic head and an excellent gem base. They built these like tanks and they're awfully nice. You're not the first person I've linked this to, but they've had some time to look at it so it's fair game.
Post subject: Re: An ok hobbyist microscope for most gems?
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 1:00 am
Established Member
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:46 am Posts: 14
I can confirm that it's a good pick, I've had my science lessons in high school on American Optical Microscopes, and bought one a couple years ago to work on the identification of historical artifacts (documents, medals etc). It has never let me down, and now that I'm interested in gems as well, it's doing its job.
Post subject: Re: An ok hobbyist microscope for most gems?
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 1:35 am
Gold Member
Joined: Thu May 12, 2016 2:18 am Posts: 1542
I recommend against any of the AMScopes. It is not so much the optics, which are manicure at best. It is the lighting that is completely inadequate for gemstones. You would be better off waiting for a good used GIA Gemolite Microscope to show up here or on Ebay.
Post subject: Re: An ok hobbyist microscope for most gems?
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 12:29 pm
Site Admin
Joined: Sun Oct 16, 2005 12:22 pm Posts: 21602 Location: San Francisco
The only caveat is that GIA scope is going to cost $1000+ unless there is something wrong with it. That may be prohibitive to beginners.
That being said, remember my mantra "The cheap can become expensive." If you buy cheap instruments, you have to replace and upgrade them frequently. If you buy a good instrument, you will still be using it in 30 years.
Post subject: Re: An ok hobbyist microscope for most gems?
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 6:36 pm
Established Member
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2019 2:30 am Posts: 44
Stephen Challener wrote:
That all said: if gems are specifically what you want to look at, you should go snap this one up right away: https://www.ebay.com/itm/AMERICAN-OPTIC ... 3987472206 It is an old GIA microscope with a nice classic head and an excellent gem base. They built these like tanks and they're awfully nice. You're not the first person I've linked this to, but they've had some time to look at it so it's fair game.
The price of this insaaaaane. Others I see like this are $600-$1000. I’m gobsmacked. Especially if the condition is as good as described.
Hah. I appreciate that Barbra but I don't think I've got more experience than many of our other members (like Gene) but I guess I am online more. Though if you want to know about something new or particularly high-end (like a horizontal immersion rig) you'd better ask Barbra, since I haven't handled too many scopes newer than 20 years old. Though for those goodies you'd better wait until your budget is a bit over 300 bucks.
Yeah, if that wasn't you tinkie there are other options too. If you really just want a general scope to start out on and get a feel for things, I have a classic bausch and lomb student stereo with an illuminated base that I can sell you for a lot less. Certainly not as capable as a gemolite or anything like that, but not a toy. Just send me a PM if you're interested.
Post subject: Re: An ok hobbyist microscope for most gems?
Posted: Mon Nov 25, 2019 11:56 pm
Established Member
Joined: Mon Nov 18, 2019 7:29 am Posts: 16
OH GOSH! I guess I don't have message alerts when someone posts, I would have bought that linked scope!!! Oh krap!! Okay lemme see, I'll check the one other link and not sure I have pm privileges yet but I'll check. Shoot! Yes, I will be looking mostly at gemstones (I'll look at anything really, I collect stamps and ancient coins too) but I really want to get into "inclusions" - "gas" bubbles, etc, I know you need heavy magnification but you're right, I found the "dark field light field" scopes on that site using another dropdown box I hadn't seen and that was a duh factor but I'm new to all of this so can't think this out on my own. I did look into some old threads but when it comes to buying, understanding the terminology and the "why's" of needing something I don't yet understand is daunting. Thank God I didn't pull the trigger yet. Another newbie stupid question - about those "claws clips", are they coated with something to not mar stones? I cringe when thinking of serrated claws and Sphalerite...
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