After the umpteenth time crawling around on the floor looking for a gemstone that has popped out of the tweezers, I am desperate to know if anyone has come up with a device that will hold a stone securely for examining with a loupe. Even locking tweezers have failed me and prongs interfere too much with viewing.
I use locking tweezers and I find as long as I'm careful to get the edges in the grooves that are cut into the tips and don't lock it too tightly it's usually quite secure, but others have suggested not using the locking type specifically for that reason.
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 11:48 am Posts: 584 Location: Odenton, Maryland
Like Robin, I use locking tweezers--just be sure that you're gripping facet edges and not points, and don't overdo it on the slide lock. This is one of many cases where "more is better" ain't true.
Joined: Sat Jul 07, 2007 8:06 am Posts: 418 Location: uk
I like the Swiss ones DuMont, they have a groove on the inside of the tips that hold the girdle nicely Some time ago at the gem market Chanthabury, The broker at the table told me of the time a expensive sappphire sprung from is tweezers never to be found, he had to pay for it. Thats when i bought the Swiss ones with the grove
I may have stumbled upon a solution to my stone holder (tweezers) problem. It is a tool used by jewelers to squeeze the prongs of a ring to mount a stone securely in place. Called the "Easymount short nose gem plier", it is relatively expensive at $59.50, but it has a microscrew that adjusts the jaws to secure the stone by the girdle quite precisely. I have intentionally dropped the whole thing, stone and all, on the floor without dislodging the stone.
I wonder, would a little of that green gel stuff on these things work if attached to the end of a stick and formed like a dop?
These things work for holding pretty much any cell phone by a kind of reusable sticky pad. As long as the pad is clean and free of dirt, it sticks pretty well. The key is that it adheres very well to smooth surfaces.
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