There are a few pieces of equipment that are quite useful when buying, selling and collecting diamond and precious gem jewelery. Most are fairly inexpensive but are invaluable to the "jewelery hound".

  Probably the most expensive item you should buy is a diamond tester. You can find a good one from around $80 and up to $200 plus. Unless you are a professional or just have the extra cash to burn the less expensive ones work great. I found mine as a 2 piece auction on Ebay, one diamond tester and one moissanite tester. Diamonds conducts heat differently that other stones and simulated stones. After setting the tester to the correct setting acording to stone size , you gently press a little stylus to the table of the the gem and you will get a reading. Diamonds conduct heat differently that any other stone so the tester is able to accurately recognize whether the stone is indeed a diamond. Moisanite can give a positive reading as a diamond with the diamond tester, that is why the duo of diamond tester and moissanite tester is handy. The moisanite tester will tell you the difference bewteen the diamond and the moinanite. You can find them right here on Ebay. Use extreme caution when using testers not to bend the delicate stylus.

 Ring sizing tools include a mandrel and a set of ring sizers. A mandrel is a long rod of graduating width marked with lines that denote size. You slide your ring on the rod and simply read the size where it fits. This will tell you what size your ring is. These come in plastic and metal. Personally I find the metal ones seem to be a bit more accurate. The ring sizers are a set of rings that you can slide on your finger. Each ring is marked with a size, thats what ring size your finger is - easy. These again come in plastic and metal and again I prefer the metal sets.

 Another really helpful tool is a jewelers loupe.These again vary in price, you can find one of good quality for a very modest price. They most common is a 10 X magnification. These have helped me catch missing stones when I have purchased jewelery that I may have missed with the naked eye. You can check quality and craftsmanship in much more detail. On larger more expensive stones you can use your loupe to make note of tiny flaws or inclusions in your stones. Unfortunately stone switching is not unheard of if you happen to leave your jewelery for cleaning or repair with a dishonset jeweler. If you are extremely familiar on an up close level with your stones there is a better chance you can catch a switched stone. I also don't know what I would do without my headgear magnifier. You wear it somewhat like a welders mask (not so big!) and it has a magnifier shield with lights on each side. The shield can flip up and down. It is great for hands free jewelery inspection or repair (really anything that requires close inspection).

  A chelsea filter can help with identifying fake colored gems. Prices again vary. I do not have one yet, but as soon as I get one I will update this guide. 

  A polariscopeis used in detecting optical properties of gemstones. It can check to see if a stone is single or double refracting. Now we are getting really pro, this may not be neccessary for someone like me or you... but who knows? 

 I hope this has been helpful to future and maybe even seasoned jewelery hounds. :0)

 If you enjoyed this you can check out my other guides on diamonds and jewelery. If you found this helpful please take the time to vote for it at the bottom of the guide.