The Jewelers Loupe

What is a jeweler’s loupe? This tool is used by professional jewelers, gemologists and certification laboratories everywhere. Loupes allow anyone trying to get a closer look at a gemstone to really get up close and personal with it, providing intense magnification. Loupes vary from one to the next and they do not really have a standard size. Loupes come with different amounts of lenses built in as well, allowing jewelers to really get the magnification they need without buying levels they will not use.

Loupes are usually purchased online nowadays due to the increasing shift of specialty shops to the web, where shop owners can finally start making money off of special items. These are the tools that really help those who are trained pick up all of the signs that something is not right or that it is very high quality.

The loupe employed by a jeweler is vital in his or her understanding of the way different characteristics affect the overall quality of a gem. Generally speaking, these evaluations are done by gemologists in order to detect traces of color, imperfections or blemishes. These dealings are usually conducted under 10x magnification, relatively standard. With the loupe, a jewelers is able to take their real feelings and research about gemstone jewelry and apply it appropriately since they are able to properly see the pieces on their own scale.

Stop Stressing, Buy Her (or Him) Diamond Bracelets

Choosing the proper gift for someone with whom you are in love is usually as stressful as you can imagine, but only because you allow it. When it comes to buying a piece of fine jewelry, everything seems to have an added level of meaning and importance. What am I saying, you find yourself thinking as you stare at the jeweler’s selection of affordable trinkets, what if I buy this instead of that? I’m here to tell you to stop. You can’t read minds, no matter how long you’ve known a person. The perfect option, whether you are buying for a woman or a man, is to look at the diamond bracelets.

Any professional jeweler will tell you the reasons why this is choice you want to make. It is a gift that is beautiful. No one is going to argue that point. Regardless of what type of jewelry they adorn, diamonds are always gorgeous. It is a gift that is practical. Diamond bracelets have more versatility than most other styles of fine jewelry being able to be worn with almost anything. Finally, the third reason is almost a combination of the first two. They will treasure it because of how beautiful it is and the near constant wearing of it will always remind them of you.

A Brief History of Men’s Jewelry

The percentage of the jewelry that is sold to or for women is astronomical. What if I told you however that wasn’t always the case? Could you believe that throughout history men actually wore as much jewelry as women, if not more? I’m not just talking about the mostly forgettable decade of the 1970’s, either, when what was passing as fine jewelry for men seemed to consist of a hundred gold necklaces draped over too much chest hair. No, the world of men’s jewelry goes back much further than that.

Keep in mind that the first uses of jewelry were either ceremonial, for priests to wear during religious events, or decorative to show the power and wealth of pharaohs and kings. Throughout most of history those two categories were populated by men. The tradition of sailors (and all sailors, not just pirates) wearing a gold hoop was based on practicality as much as fashion: if they were to pass away while not at home, the earring would be the payment for the funeral.

Now men’s jewelry is more popular than ever. Visit any professional jeweler and you will see that the selection of affordable jewelry that is designed for men takes up more space than you might imagine. This isn’t to say it’ll overtake women’s jewelry anytime soon, but you’d be surprised just how many options there are out there.

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Watch Repair Services: All But Forgotten

Most people have abandoned or completely lost interest in their wristwatches these days. Why would you bother wearing something clunky and heavy when you have your i-Phone or other super-tech savvy smart phone? Our phones practically provide everything we need. Including the time. So shops for watch repair services have all but disappeared.

I remember getting ice cream from the local ice cream shop after school growing up. We would go a sit in the hot sun and slurp up our homemade ice cream cones and hot fudge sundaes. My best friend and neighbor relatives that owned a professional watch and jewelry repair store right next door. Sometimes, we would go in and bug her family members. They hated when we had ice cream, because we would leave the evidence of our visits on their glass showroom cases.

There were so many watches in that store. Most in boxes and long forgotten bins strewn about the back of the store. The left over remnants were the empty shells of watches that once housed gears and parts of all kinds. The store took the parts and used them to replace others. I asked her once where they all came from. She said people didn’t wear watches anymore and didn’t really use watch repair services like before. I remember seeing the out-of-business sign hanging in the door a couple of years later. Hollowed out watches still strewn about the backroom floor.