Comments on: Loupe or Optvisor

By: Tick Talk » A watchmaker’s home

Tick Talk » A watchmaker’s home — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:50:20 +0000

[...] 9 square inches directly in front of them. During the repair of a watch I wear a loupe which, as we discussed before requires your face to about 2 inches from your work. Since this is where you spend most of your [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:56:50 +0000

I work with somebody that uses surgeon’s loupes to work on watches all day. The focal distance is amazing, and if I am not mistaken it is upwards of 12″. I used them for about 5 minutes and it is nice, will take getting used to, and is very expensive. I am told the model he wears is around $4000 now. He got them for less than that and uses them to help with posture. I wonder if they could keep me from becoming a hunchback…

By: J.Edwards

J.Edwards — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:18:34 +0000

I have seen IWC’s Kurt Klaus sporting a pair of what appear to me to be surgeons’ loupes before, and he is a veritable master of the trade. So I would say that it’s definitely not out of the question, Movery.

By: J.Peter

J.Peter — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:13:26 +0000

It’s hard to put a finger on it. I started out with ASCO Loupes. The way things look through the B & L is considerably different and I’m just not used to it. I haven’t tried to analyze what is different about them because I haven’t needed to.

By: movery

movery — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:15:05 +0000

I’ve always wondered if Surgeon’s loupes would be of any use? Don’t know the magnification, but I suspect the focal length would be huge. Bet they’re expensive, too.

By: J.Edwards

J.Edwards — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:50:34 +0000

At work, I use a slightly modified Bausch and Lomb. I vented it and installed a new lens in the main loupe body back when I was in watchmaking school. The thing I like about the B&L is that I can quickly double its magnification, when I want to use it for longer periods of close-up work, by installing the small screw in lens that it came with. For basic inspection, I use an ASCO 10x alpanetique. For inspection of pivots, pinions, and teeth, I use an ASCO 25x. Both of which I am very happy with. The 25x takes some definite getting used to, though.

At home, I mainly use a 4x Ti loupe that I made when I was in school, a generic 10x and a 20x ASCO for inspection. My favourite loupe is a Jaquet-Droz, which was given to me as a gift. It gets about the same amount of wear time as my Ti loupe.

If you are looking for a good, reasonably-priced, all around loupe, I would recommend Bergeon’s 4x. If you want a slightly longer focal length, however, I would recommend Bergeon’s 3x, which will buy you another 1/2″.

I have yet to try a BECO, but from what I have heard, the majority of their products are sourced from Asia and too overpriced for the quality.

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 00:14:40 +0000

I use a pair of 2x reading glasses for dis/assembly and a 10x B&L loupe for close up work. I’ve only used a B&L J. What don’t you like about them? Maybe I need a new one.

By: Scott Cerullo

Scott Cerullo — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:08:31 +0000

I use a 5x Bauch & Laume loupe for regular work and a Bergeon 10x if I need to see something really small and if I need to inspect something, like the teeth on an Accutron index wheel, I use a microscope.

Although most of you know this, I think a lot of people new to this tend to use their loupes improplerly and this may cause them some problems.

When wearing a loupe, you are to keep both eyes open and use your mind to control which eye your are focusing with. I see a lot of people trying to do the one eye thing and they must get some wicked eye strain.

Also, if fogging is a problem, you can drill a couple of holes in the plastic.

I have often thought of upgrading my loupes to some of the expensive ones, but I’m not sure if there is really much of a difference when used for watch repair.

By: Scott W.

Scott W. — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:57:26 +0000

Aimeri, Since I wore glasses most of my life, I started out using the loupes that attach to the frames of my glasses. I switched over to a pair of optivisors, but I really disliked them. I now wear contacts, and use a Bergeon wire loupe holders with a variety of loupes ranging from 3X to 10X. When I started using the loupes they would steam up occasionally, I drilled a couple of holes in the side to let air flow through, and now prefer them more than ever.

By: aimeri

aimeri — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 02:50:27 +0000

Maurice,
I’ve found your idea to be particularly interesting. Same magnification I would get with a regular loupe, but all the comfort of the optvisor. I might have to give that a shot. Any particular brand you would like to suggest?