NB Jewellery

The humble but essential piece of any jewellers kit.

My jewellers loupe has been by my side now for over 30 years and has travelled the world with me. Witnessing some of our beautiful planets most precious gems, from the most stunning opals displaying every colour of the rainbow and costing tens of thousands of pounds, to the brightest deepest purple blue tanzanites, the ocean colours of pariba tourmaline, and every grade of diamond, to the ‘wolf in sheeps clothing’ glass stone cleverly disguised as the precious stone you thought you’d bought…

Our journey together began in the 1980s when my kind employer gifted it as a reward for my achievements for the NAG Gemmology course I studied, I then got a double gift because when I took it to our engraver to have my initials engraved on it he wouldn’t let me pay for the job.

Thank you Mr Platais and John Mitchell. I have treasured it along with the sentiments in which I received it and will continue to take great care of it as I work.

The X Factor

An ‘X’ indicates the magnification of the loupe. It describes the magnification level. For example if you have a loupe with 10x magnification it will make the object appear ten times its actual size.

If you want to get really serious then you have to comply with specific standards which are required by legal bodies within the trade, for example diamond grading loupes have to fit certain criteria.

The 10x loupe is the most recommended magnification for professions such as Jewellers, Gemologists, Geologists, Biologists and Engineers

I would recommend always buy from a reputable supplier, as some magnification isn’t true on cheaper models.