Magnifying Loupes

Magnifying Loupes are a must have for every rockhound. These Loupes allow close inspection and identification of rocks, minerals and gems and allow you to view the structure and formation of crystal habits. Loupes come in different magnification levels basically from 5X to 20X magnification. There are loupes with single fixed magnification and loupes with multiple lenses for multiple magnification strengths. There are a wide variety of quality levels to choose from. There are Jewelers loupes that cost hundreds of dollars, down to plastic loupes for 99 cents. We have found that our favorite choices for loupes for Rockhounding is in the 10X range.

Loupes are referred to as lens, doublet lens and triplet lens. Increasing the number of lenses decreases the distortion if the lenses are what is known as achromatic lenses. Achromatic lenses are designed to provide proper focal points and reduce distortion. We have an old 16X doublet standard loupe, but it is not as easy to use as a 10X triplet achromatic loupe, nor is the focal clarity as good as the 10X triplet achromatic loupe. No matter which one you choose, a magnifying loupe will increase your ability to better see and identify your rocks, minerals, and gems.