Identify Up To 85% Of Gemstones

Ok the very first thing I learned from my new book, Gemstone Identification Made Easy, is that you can identify up to 85% of gemstones with these three tools: Dichroscope, 10X Loupe, and the Chelsea Filter. I have ordered these three tools, and they will be my Mothers Day gift this year. I also want a Refractometer, and Ultraviolet Light, but they will have to wait. I have a microscope, but it is not a jewelers microscope, which are more handy for identifying gemtsones. Anyway I want to talk about the 10X Loupe. Of course I am sure everyone who does jewelry, knows about this instrument. It is simply a magnifier with 10 times the power. They come in other powers, but this is the one most widely used. It lets you see into the gemstone, to see inclusions, cracks, scratches, cleavage etc. It does take some practice to get used to knowing what you are seeing, and a dark field 10X loupe is even better. One very important thing I learned, that I did not know before, is that you should never buy a 10X loupe in any other color than black. I am sure you have seen pretty gold, chrome, red, blue, and even green loupes. I was curious to know why, as the book did not detail, so I did a little research. I found out that they black casing loupe will prevent reflections. The other colored loupes can interfere with colors, and can lead to mistakes when identifying your stones. This is a necessary tool, for anyone who wishes to identify gemstones, and they are pretty affordable. Most you can get for less than 50 dollars.