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The Loupe Journal · Issue 07

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Vol. II · Issue 07 Autumn 2026 Hatton Garden, London Free at the bench
A master setter examining a ring through a double head loupe Cover story · 12 min read

At the bench

Forty years under the loupe.

Arthur Hale has set eleven thousand stones and still closes every claw by hand. We spent a week at his end of the bench, asking what a machine can’t see.

By Imogen Reyes · Photographs by the studio · 14 Sep 2026

In this issue.

Six stories from the bench and the people who wear what comes off it.

  1. 04Forty years under the loupeAt the benchp. 12
  2. 11Why old cuts look better by candle-lightStonesp. 28
  3. 18Priya and Tom, and the stone by the windowWearersp. 36
  4. 24The six tools on every setter’s benchAt the benchp. 44
  5. 31Lab-grown, honestly: what it is and isn’tStonesp. 52
  6. 38Claws wear thin. Here is when to re-tipCarep. 60
Two hands with new engagement and wedding rings

Wearers · 6 min

The stone by the window

Priya and Tom chose an F over a D after one look in daylight. The difference went on the honeymoon.

“A machine can set a stone straight. It can’t tell you the stone is the wrong way round.”

Arthur Hale, setter · p. 14
A loose cushion-cut diamond catching the light

Stone of the week · № 03 on the parcel

A cushion that behaves.

Shape
Cushion brilliant
Carat
1.50
Colour · Clarity
E · VVS2
Cut · Polish · Symmetry
VG · EX · EX
Certificate
GIA 2231 874 510
Price
£16,200

Most cushions this size go bow-tied in the middle. This one doesn’t. We would set it in a thin four-claw and leave the rest of the ring quiet.

Build around it See the parcel

The Friday photo

One stone, every Friday.

A single photograph from the bench and three lines about it. No sales, no countdowns. Leave whenever.