Watchmaker’s Loupe Practical & Lightweight Design

I originally designed this to show off to my watchmaker colleagues…

But seriously, this is a very practical watchmaker’s loupe. Thanks to its low weight, it’s extremely comfortable to wear. I’ve been using it for two weeks now, and it performs exceptionally well.

The open design allows for excellent air circulation, so you won’t have to deal with foggy lenses anymore. It’s made to work with 20 mm diameter planoconvex lenses — tested with a lens from the Bergeon 7856 eyeglass. You can order suitable lenses separately from Bergeon, Horotec, or other watchmaking suppliers. I also found some compatible options on well-known Chinese e-commerce platforms.

The loupe consists of two parts: the main body and the lens lid. These are simply screwed together with the lens in between — no glue required. This makes lens replacement quick and easy, and you can use lenses of different thicknesses.

For best printing results, I recommend using a 0.08 mm layer height to ensure the threads print cleanly; otherwise, you might experience fitting issues. I used variable layer height on the main body to speed up the print while maintaining quality for the threaded section.

You might get a bit of stringing on the main body. A quick pass with a hair dryer cleaned it up nicely for me.

I’m not an engineer, just a watchmaker who designed this in Fusion after watching way too many 3D-printed vase tutorials and doing plenty of trial and error.

I’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions!