Tools
Before any examination of a cut stone, it is cleaned carefully. Using tweezers helps keep it clean. They also make it possible to handle stones that are too small to be examined with the fingers.
There are several types of tweezers: self-locking, standard and claw.
Even if the temptation is great to use 4 prong tweezers, it is better to learn how to use standard tweezers directly. Personally, I only use standard tweezers. Their particularity is that they have a groove at the ends, which makes gripping the stone much easier and more efficient. These tweezers are also called claw tweezers, but they look like a large tweezers, which is not the case with 4 prong tweezers at all.
I do not use tweezers out of habit, but they can be of interest when you hold a gem in your hand for a long time for analysis under a microscope, for example.
Like any gemological instrument, it is better not to take the very first price in terms of tweezers. Inexpensive models are usually bright chrome-plated steel with ridged grip areas. From trying them out at the start, I can say they are perfect for sending a rock across the room. It slips strongly! And the more you tighten, the farther your stone will slide and go! We always tend to over tighten at the beginning. Note that there are several sizes of tweezers that we will choose according to the size of the stones that we will analyze. To begin with, a size L with claws will suit most situations.
To use tweezers correctly, you must lay the stone on its table, lay the tweezers flat on the table and gently bring the ends into contact with the stone. The fingers are flat on the tweezers, a bit like grabbing a sheet of paper on a table edge. By moving the tweezers slightly, we will bring the leaf of the stone into the grooves. We will ensure the grip of the hand, but without releasing the stone and without squeezing it too much. It is useless to tighten because the stone is stuck in the claws and weighs only a few carats (one carat equals 0.2 grams).
For the rest of the examination, the stone is handled, being careful not to loosen the fingers too much. If we use the magnifying glass, then we will place the hand of the tweezers on the one holding the magnifying glass so as not to tremble. It is much more comfortable. (see the Gemologist loupe )
To go further
- gemologist’s loupe
- lighting
- darkfield loupe
- the polariscope
- the dichroscope
- the spectroscope
- Chelsea filter and other filters
- the refractometer
- the microscope
- UV lamp
- the carat balance