Buying a microscope piecemeal from Ebay

My new microscope arrived last week. Well, part of it did. I purchased an old Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom 7 pod with 15x wide field Leica lenses, and the essential photo port from an Ebay seller for around $200, which is a steal. Compared to my son's plastic student microscope, this thing weighs a ton!

Gemologists use this type of microscope to inspect and photograph gemstones. The zoom is 1x to 7x, and with the 15x eyepieces, the range is increased to 15x to 105x. I purchased a 1.5x auxiliary objective lens that fits on the bottom of the microscope, and that increases the magnification to 22.5x to 157x! I'm still on the lookout for a 2x auxiliary.

1.5x Bausch and Lomb auxiliary lens

My first attempt to purchasing a stand for my microscope failed. It was advertised as a Bausch and Lomb Stereozoom stand, but it turned out to be a cheap reproduction. The seller tried very hard to convince me ("I'm an engineer," "It's just repainted,") that it was a genuine stand but after looking closely, I decided that my suspicions were correct.

Comparing the microscope arms, the eBay arm has extra drill holes

Looking at the arms again, but in profile, the position of the focus ring is higher on the eBay stand.

Finally, when comparing metal thicknesses, mine is twice as thick!!

Although the seller has promised to refund my money including all shipping fees, it's so disappointing to receive an item that doesn't match your expectations, and it's such a hassle to pack up and take to the post office. Sigh. I ordered another microscope stand from another eBay seller and it should arrive in a couple of days.

I also received a new shipment of semi-precious stones in the mail this week. Here are some of them: