HRD Antwerp has launched its new D-Scope+ at the Hong Kong Jewellery and Gem Fair, which opened on September 13. The lab says that that the new microscope offers “not only the best, but also the most innovative diamond analysis experience on the market”. The improvements cover all the main features of the original D-Scope: the illumination, ease of manipulation and ergonomics of the microscope, HRD stated.

Michel Janssens, CEO of HRD Antwerp said, “The D-Scope has been the indispensable analysis tool for all types of diamonds and gemstones since 2001. Our research and development team has worked very hard to further optimize every aspect of our microscope to create the D-Scope+.”

The lab said that the illumination now offers a revolutionary dark-field lighting technology, which allows the user to choose between three different colours of light: yellowish light, white daylight and extremely strong white light. According to Janssens, “This makes the clarity analysis experience more efficient, since these different colour-temperatures are perfect for studying all kinds of internal and external characteristics of the diamond.”

While the state-of-the-art vacuum gem manipulator has not been changed, a statement from the lab says that the D-Stick has been redesigned in order to improve comfort while manipulating the stone, adding that the entire ergonomics of the instrument has been completely updated to ensure a very comfortable position for the intensive user.

The microscope has also been given a pre-inclination, along with the potential to give it a forward tilt. The manipulation table can now move up and down to achieve proper focus on the stone, HRD said.  As a result, the user does not have to adjust the height of the optics & eyepieces when focusing on a stone, enabling a comfortable position at all times. Naturally, the optics & eyepieces can still be adjusted in height to fit the eye-position of different users.

A wide variety of optical heads can be selected from the world’s most famous manufacturers, such as Zeiss and Leica, HRD noted.

Jenssens said, “The D-Scope+ truly is the diamond microscope reinvented, and we believe it will help industry professionals to conduct their diamond analysis in a more efficient way.”

The new microscope will become available commercially at the start of 2018.