HDE Diamond Tester Pen High Accuracy Professional Jeweler for Novice and Expert

My mother has had one of these for years and years - I would say twenty, at least! She had a huge jewelry collection and would spend hours and hours "playing" and looking at it. She really loved this little gadget, too. It just gave her so much pleasure and satisfaction to use it. Sadly, she passed away recently and I have been working to get it all organized. This tool, along with a good jeweler's loupe, have been absolutely indispensable for this chore. Unfortunately, I discovered that the old one had finally given out. It may have been easily repaired, I'm not even sure, because when I went on Amazon to see if I could find it, and not only found it, but with such an incredible price, I was blown away! I had always assumed it was an expensive tool and treated it very carefully. But why bother trying to get it fixed when I could get a brand new one in my home in two days? If you love jewelry, or have some pieces you're not completely sure about, this thing is just indispensable. The only reason I gave it a 4 for ease of use was because it can be a little confusing at first. But once you get the hang of it, it is so simple to use. My mother loved it, I love it, and you will love it!

This diamond tester requires a 9 volt battery which is not included. (In case you want to use it as soon as you get it). I bought this as a gift for my mom because she does jewelery repairs, and she liked it alot! She says it works great to detect real diamonds (beeps if real) (no beep if fake). Although, to test extremely small diamonds it takes a few tries because of how small they are. For example diamonds that can only be seen with a magnifier will not get an accurate reading the first time so it will take a few times before it gets it. Anyways it works great and is worth the price!

It’s fairly easy to use. I pulled out my jewelry to test. It works well on stones 1 carat and above. Not so well on the chips. I understand that it works on heat so if the tip touches the metal from the setting it will beep.

Handy little tool. Small to carry in my purse. Like to test rings at Thrift store and garage sales.

I take it in the field when I'm rock hounding just in case I find something interesting.

You have to be careful to hold it correctly and adjust for the temperature and size of stone, which is the only drawback because you can't be super accurate about the carat size of set stones. It accurately detects diamonds out from other stones (except moissanite) like white topaz, CA, rhinestones. Only disappointment, one of the things I am using it for is to very, very small set melee stones (chips) and it's sometimes impossible to get the probe onto a stone that small without hitting metal, which invalidates the test and bleeps like crazy. But that isn't the product's fault as it would be difficult to get a probe much smaller. It's funny how I'm sometimes finding real teeny tiny diamonds set into what appears to be a milgrain border--I suppose they're there to add more sparkle--but dealing with estate jewelry will always surprise you!

I just got the unit. I will conduct a thorough test shortly, but wanted to post NOW to make people aware of some of my findings BEFORE they purchase this unit. The case it comes in is NOT as pictured. The listing shows what looks like better material and has a DOUBLE OVERLOCK STITCH. The one I received is super cheap material and has a SLANT PIN STITCH (my wife sews A LOT =]). Next, the tip cover on the unit in the listing has a SOFT RUBBER cover with a angled/pointed end. The one on the unit I received is nearly flat on the tip and made of HARD PLASTIC. On the surface of the unit there is a bunch of different text. The unit I received does not match the pictured unit... the II (2) is angled MORE on my unit and the lamp text for battery and ready is farther away from the lights on my unit than the one pictured in the listing. There is also a logo and "HDE" in the blank area under the volume text on the one I received... in the listing that area is BLANK. The HOUSING on the unit in the listing has BEVELED edges to include the battery cover. The unit I received has slightly rounded edges and a flush mounted battery cover with rounded edges... no beveling. The "testing platform for loose stones" in the listing is clearly square in build (meaning 90' angles) and the recesses are round and nearly half spheres indented. The one that I received is not square in build, made of very thin aluminum and the recesses are PUNCHED by a machine and have the SAME SIZE dimple in all the various size recesses. From the looks of what I received vs everything pictured in the listing... I believe this is a CHEAP REPRODUCTION of the ACTUAL obviously higher quality model. I will post and update after I complete a thorough OPERATIONS TEST of the unit received.UPDATE* 2/8/2020* Finally got a brand new 4 pack of energizer 9V's. Put one in.. unit did not turn on. There is only ONE WAY the battery can hook up on 9V connectors so I know it wasn't that. I took the battery off and tried a second one.... NOTHING. Took the battery off and looked inside the unit with a flashlight... didn't see any loose wires or bad soldering points... hmmmm. Took 1st battery and plugged it back in. Turned the unit on with the battery OUTSIDE the unit, just sitting on the table next to it... it turned on! WOW incredible. Grabbed a handful of known diamonds of various sizes. Grabbed a handful of various size known FAKE diamonds. Turned the power on switch (diamond size adjustment level as well) to the correct size diamond and confirmed temperature was between 10'C and 30'C and tested the stones. All of the real diamonds tested as diamonds. All of the fakes measured either no increase on the light bar or only 1-2 light increases. The unit "seems" to work.OVERALL... this unit is a pile of trash. It is clearly a reproduction of what is actually PICTURED in the listing... I have given MANY examples of differences between what is pictured (advertised/listed) and what I received. It is VERY cheap quality and build. When you install the battery in it's compartment, the unit bulges out slightly and feels like it's about to break. The TIP is fairly large and will work on most set stones from about .10ct and larger. The smaller stones are very difficult to test due to the larger tip. The fact that I had to mess with the thing several times to get it to turn on is ridiculous... I know my cheap Chinese kids toys ALWAYS turn on immediately when I put batteries in them. NOW, it seems to identify diamonds vs fake diamonds 100% so I'm going to keep it so I have SOMETHING to at least attempt a test. I will be looking into purchasing a REAL high quality tester later. You get what you pay for with this pile. I have zero confidence in it's durability or longevity.... we'll see how long it lasts/works correctly. I did NOT test any CZ or Moisanite, only real diamonds and fake/costume/glass stones. For 15 bucks it might be worth using if you have NOTHING to test...but be aware this thing is CHEAP and a REPRODUCTION of probably a better quality unit. If you have the money... don't waste your time on this thing. If you don't and need ANYTHING to test... this "seems" to work. Hope this helps.

This review is for the HDE High Accuracy Professional Jeweler Diamond Tester For Novice and Expert.Fine, it tests various stones, and does reliably indicate a diamond vs. a lab created stone such as Moissanite and the synthetics from De Beers (the diamond mine people).Once I found the instructions and read them I was able to use this tester on a wide variety of gems and get a good idea as to what they were, and whether real or not. The instructions are well written and easy to follow.If you’re looking for an inexpensive and quick way to test gem stones, this is a good buy. If you need to know if you’ve got s dismond, Moissanite or other stone, you’ll need to spend around $200. For my purposes, this HDE tester is fine.