Jewelry Scales

Precise Jewelry Scales for Gold & Gems

After wading through hundreds of reviews, we’ve narrowed our list of the best jewelry scales down to those that offer solid features, affordability, design, and accuracy.

Our Top Jewelry Scales Picks


Jewelry Scales for Large Stones – Ohaus NV2101 Navigator Scale

Ohaus NV2101 AM Navigator Portable Scale2

This Ohaus NV2120 Navigator Scale is a pricey scale but if it’s within your budget, then it is amazing for serious pros. With a max capacity of 2100 g, this scale can hold almost any weight you throw at it. The downside is that you’ll sacrifice precision for capacity as it can only weigh in 0.1g increments.

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Best for Small Stones – GemOro 9883

Jewelry Scales

Offering 0.001g precision, the GemOro 9883 digital scale does the job for those who need precise accuracy when measuring small precious stones and need to be sure the job is done right.

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Best Value Digital Jewelry Scale – TedGem

TedGem Digital Scale

The TedGem Milligram Scale is a sleek and lightweight scale that provides can weigh up to 50g with stated accuracy to 0.001g.

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How to Choose a Jewelry Scale

When purchasing gems, diamonds, or measuring carats, it’s imperative that you are equipped with a scale that can provide precise measurements. This is true for professional jewelers and artists as well as amateur collectors.

But how do you determine which scale is right for you? Well, there are a few important things to keep in mind.

Capacity

Start with figuring out how much capacity does your jewelry scales need? In other words, will you be measuring very small items (< 20g)  or relatively large items on a regular basis? Next, figure out the level of accuracy required. For example, are you ok with accuracy within 1 gram, or do you need 0.001g precision?

Precision

Generally speaking, the greater the capacity and/or range of the scale, the less precise it will be. So a scale with a smaller capacity of 20g for example may have increments of 0.01g while a scale that accommodates 2000g will most likely only measure in increments of 0.1g at most, which could be all you need to measure a chunk of jade or other bulky stones.

In all likelihood, you’ll need a scale with a smaller range that can measure in very small increments for diamonds, gemstones, and other precious metals.  Good milligram scales usually boast precision to 1 milligram/ 0.001 grams.

This may mean that you will actually need to buy 2 or more different scales if you deal with jewelry in different sizes.

For example, if you weight large weights like pounds or kilograms you will need a scale specially for this. due to its larger capacity it will not be as precice.

Then you will probably need another scale for measuring small units like that of a single piece of jewelry that is accurate enough to give you good measurements small enough to ensure that the small pieces are accurate.

Measurement Units

Next, consider the measurement units. Good scales can count in troy ounces, grams, diamond weight total (dwt) and carats.

Tare/Calibration Function

This is a feature that allows you to place your stone(s) into a container and subtract the container’s weight, giving you the true weight of the stones. As a bonus, some scales even have memory features to help you keep track of your count of measurements.

Many jewelry scales have a tray built in for holding your gemstones, diamonds, and other precious metals, along with tweezers and calibration weights.

For high accuracy scales like jewelry scales calibration is also a very important feature that corrects any inaccuracies in the scale. High precision scales can be affected by many things and become inaccurate.

Some of the things that can make a digital scale incorrect include, temperature, level, movement, vibration, age, air movement, dust, and even light. this is why it is important to calibrate high precision scales regularly. Here is ou guide on how to calibrate your digital scales.


Professional Jewelry Scales

GemOro Platinum PCT251 Carat Scale

GemOro Platinum PCT251

This scale is made for the serious professional. This high quality and powerful feature-packed scale from GemOro offers a capacity of 250 carats with 0.005 ct accuracy. It has a blue backlit display and a large stainless steel weighing platform.

It has a tare feature, parts counting function, auto shut off, push button digital calibration, and flexible draft shield for weighing large stones.

It comes with a hardened rubberized carrying case that can hold the calibration weight, tweezers, and a diamond scoop. It’s powered by 4 AAA batteries or an AC adapter and comes with a 5-year warranty.

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Ohaus Navigator Portable Scale

Ohaus NV2101 AM Navigator

This is a top of the line scale made for handling larger capacitites. This portable low profile designed scale from OHAUS is designed for use with heavier stones as it has a capacity of 2100 grams  but accuracy only down to the 0.1g level.

It has a stainless steel weighing surface with a large LED display and easy to use button navigation. It can measure in pounds, kg, g, oz, pennyweight, carat, and grain and can even weigh in percent, parts counting, accumulate, and more.

It has state of the art touchless sensors that manage weighing functions such as tare, print, and zero.

The only knock is that a calibration needs to be purchased separately and you would think they could at least throw that in for this price point, which may be out of budget for many users.

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Budget-Friendly Carat Scales


TedGem Digital Milligram Scale – Reloading Jewelry Scale

TedGem Digital Scale2

This small portable scale is designed for people on the go who need accuracy and precision at a moment’s notice for small and lightweight items.

It comes with a see through protective cap, tweezers, a calibration weight, a weighing tray and 2 x AAA batteries.

It has a capacity of 1.7 oz / 50 g and can weigh in 0.001g increments in several measurement units including oz, carats, grains, and grams.

Bad: Not suitable for weighing large items according to several reviews.

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Smart Weigh SWS100 Elite Digital Pocket Scale

smart weigh sws100 elite series

This portable and pocket-friendly digital scale features a black body with stainless steel weighing surface and a bright backlit LCD display. It is Amazon’s choice and is great for home use.

It holds up to 3.5 oz / 100 grams and can measure in 0.01g increments. It can of course weigh in a multitude of different units as well.

It has a tare function to ensure that you can place a container on the scale to hold whatever it is you’re weighing and it will subtract the container’s weight.

 It doesn’t come with any calibration weights, tweezers, or weighing trays so this may not be your first choice if you’re a jeweler.

Bad: There may be a slight delay in measurement.

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American Weigh Scales AWS 600

American Weigh Scales AWS-600-BLK

You really can’t be mad at a scale that costs $7.99, But this cheap digital scale is actually alright. It has a 21 0z / 600 gram capacity and measures in 0.1g increments, perfect for measuring medicine, supplements, or yes, jewelry.

It has an intuitive design with a 5 digit LED display and 3 button weighing mode control unit allows for measurements in grains, carats, grams and ounces.

Although it comes pre- calibrated, there is an optional calibration weight that we highly recommend you purchase as well. It comes with a Tare feature and a 10 yr warranty.

It has over 8K reviews on Amazon averaging out to 4.4 stars so it’s clearly a popular item so maybe we’re being unfair. That said, we couldn’t help but notice that the first reviews that came up on the listing were all negative.

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GDealer DS1

GDealer DS1 Digital Pocket Kitchen Scale

This sleek and smooth stainless steel lightweight scale with a bright LED display can measure almost anything you throw at it up to 500g at a 0.01 gram resolution. Perfect for weighing jewelry, food, powder, gemstones and more.

Note: Take the stated 0.01g accuracy with a grain of salt. You’re generally not going to get beyond 0.1g accuracy with any scale below $100 though many people believe otherwise. If you really need that level of accuracy on a consistent basis because every milligram counts, invest in a top-notch professional scale.

As for the GDealer, it provides enough accuracy and features such as a tare feature and counting in several measurement units such as g, ct, dwt, and oz. for the majority of people.

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