Zeiss and Gem Scopes

[Trigon]

Hello guys,
I've been on the hunt for a new gemological microscope and I've noticed for as renown a name for optics as Zeiss is, I don't notice a lot of their scopes in the field. Any ideas why?

[MichaelG.]

Stemi 305 and Stemi 508 appear to be the Zeiss gemological offerings
https://www.jewelsntools.com/carl-zeiss ... scope.html

No Idea how good they might be, but I find the design rather uninspiring.

MichaelG.

.
Edit: Whilst browsing around, I found this, which uses the Stemi 508 optics on a much more interesting stand:
http://aroyaltech.com/Advance-Solitaire ... spx#stands

[Scarodactyl]

None of the big four make gemscopes themselves. Olympus did for a brief period back in the 60s, but that market has always been dominated by specialty sellers like Gem Instruments (part of the GIA now). Meiji does, and they have a great reputation for build quality, though you have to be sure you get one with switchable brightfield/darkfield rather than a fixed darkfield one. Leica heads are used on a lot of gemological bases now, and the routine-grade Zeiss stemis are as well (alongside tons of Chinese heads of course). The closest the big four tend to come are their flat stereo bases which might have switchable brightfield/darkfield illumination. This does work well for gems, though you'll want to add an iris and a gem clip, and the lack of a tilting base can be annoying depending on how your desk is set up.

If you're looking for a gemscope, though, you'd generally do much better to buy a quality vintage base and a used head. A lot of these newer bases are a bit heavy on plastic for my liking (that being said, I do sell used gem scopes so I'm not entirely without bias or interest in this). If I were buying new I'd probably get a Gempro from Jeff Wildman. I haven't used one, but they look to be built similarly to later-vintage GIA gemolites (ie, very solid with lots of metal) and he puts a variety of high quality heads on them. Eickhorst has a good reputation as well, and I have a friend who uses one (with a Stemi 508 head) and likes it quite a bit.

Edit: as I understand it the "A Royal co" base above (I've seen it sold by a few vendors, I think it's supposed to have been designed by HRD Antwerp?) is focused entirely on diamond inspection. It's apparently good for that, but having non-switchable darkfield isn't great for general gem examination IMO. The other base there is a typical chinese Gemolite/DLscope clone. Some of these are fine, but they're usually kind of plasticy.

[Trigon]

Stemi 305 and Stemi 508 appear to be the Zeiss gemological offerings
https://www.jewelsntools.com/carl-zeiss ... scope.html

No Idea how good they might be, but I find the design rather uninspiring.

MichaelG.

.
Edit: Whilst browsing around, I found this, which uses the Stemi 508 optics on a much more interesting stand:
http://aroyaltech.com/Advance-Solitaire ... spx#stands

agreed. for the most part I was only able to find the 305+508 with stands that weren't ideal... and then you found A Royal Co.'s which is a lot more enticing. I had found its inspiration The D-Scope+ from HRD Antwerp earlier but prefer the Zeiss over the model of Leica they offer. I appreciate you putting the legwork

[Trigon]

None of the big four make gemscopes themselves. Olympus did for a brief period back in the 60s, but that market has always been dominated by specialty sellers like Gem Instruments (part of the GIA now). Meiji does, and they have a great reputation for build quality, though you have to be sure you get one with switchable brightfield/darkfield rather than a fixed darkfield one. Leica heads are used on a lot of gemological bases now, and the routine-grade Zeiss stemis are as well (alongside tons of Chinese heads of course). The closest the big four tend to come are their flat stereo bases which might have switchable brightfield/darkfield illumination. This does work well for gems, though you'll want to add an iris and a gem clip, and the lack of a tilting base can be annoying depending on how your desk is set up.

If you're looking for a gemscope, though, you'd generally do much better to buy a quality vintage base and a used head. A lot of these newer bases are a bit heavy on plastic for my liking (that being said, I do sell used gem scopes so I'm not entirely without bias or interest in this). If I were buying new I'd probably get a Gempro from Jeff Wildman. I haven't used one, but they look to be built similarly to later-vintage GIA gemolites (ie, very solid with lots of metal) and he puts a variety of high quality heads on them. Eickhorst has a good reputation as well, and I have a friend who uses one (with a Stemi 508 head) and likes it quite a bit.

Edit: as I understand it the "A Royal co" base above (I've seen it sold by a few vendors, I think it's supposed to have been designed by HRD Antwerp?) is focused entirely on diamond inspection. It's apparently good for that, but having non-switchable darkfield isn't great for general gem examination IMO. The other base there is a typical chinese Gemolite/DLscope clone. Some of these are fine, but they're usually kind of plasticy.

very good advice.
my scope experience is fairly limited so I wasn't exactly sure why the big optics brands were a little less visible. Surprisingly the option to just buy a base isn't as possible as I had hoped. I've found plenty of great possibilities but lack the switchable Darkfield/Brightfield well.

[Scarodactyl]

What are you planning on using it for? Depending on your budget you might want to consider a horizontal immersion scope. I have not tried one myself but the people I know who have them like them quite a bit for looking at inclusions.
Depending on your budget you might be able to do better by picking up something like a Gemolite VII/X base and buying the head separately. These were very well-made bases, the only major complaint I think people have is that the halogen bulbs get fairly hot if you're working with it for extended periods.
Then again, if your goal is more photographically focused you might want to go with a flat research-grade base, though you'd probably want a higher-resolution CMO stereo system or a photomacroscope rather than a greenough like the 508.

[Trigon]

What are you planning on using it for? Depending on your budget you might want to consider a horizontal immersion scope. I have not tried one myself but the people I know who have them like them quite a bit for looking at inclusions.
Depending on your budget you might be able to do better by picking up something like a Gemolite VII/X base and buying the head separately. These were very well-made bases, the only major complaint I think people have is that the halogen bulbs get fairly hot if you're working with it for extended periods.
Then again, if your goal is more photographically focused you might want to go with a flat research-grade base, though you'd probably want a higher-resolution CMO stereo system or a photomacroscope rather than a greenough like the 508.

I'll try to detail some wants/needs:
NEEDS:
The primary use of this scope would be gemological appraisals of which 95% would be diamonds. Maginification must be 10x for grading stones and to have the capability to get up to 50x (or above). The stand it sits on has to have Darkfield and light field capability and I would like to incorporate a trinocular head as a photo of the customers stone/jewelery is included in the report. I will be the only user of the scope and it will have its own dedicated office space.
WANTS:
I have been seeing a lot more great photomicroscopy examples and would love to have the fire power to try my hand at it but my current scope is at best hobbyist grade. I don't currently own a camera so whether or not I buy a dedicated camera or adapt a dslr in will be depend on what is best suited for the task.
As for budget, I'm remaining open minded and flexible as I'm hoping to use this instrument for the next 30 years.