Buyer guide
Best xTool for jewellers.
A jewellery bench has three distinct laser jobs: in-store personalisation at the counter, deep repeatable marking on solid precious metals, and clean surface marks on plated or heat-sensitive pieces. No single xTool covers all three — here's how we'd match each one.
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F2 vs F2 Ultra Dual vs F2 Ultra UV at a glance
| Use case | F2 | F2 Ultra Dual | F2 Ultra UV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Laser source | 5 W IR fibre (1064 nm) + 15 W diode (445 nm) | 60 W MOPA fibre + 40 W diode galvo | 5 W UV galvo (355 nm) |
| Galvo speed ceiling | Portable head, not galvo | Up to 15,000 mm/s | Up to 15,000 mm/s |
| In-store personalisation | Best fit — portable, counter-friendly | Capable, larger footprint | Capable, specialist strengths |
| Photo marks on bare metal | Good (counter pace) | Excellent — high contrast, fast | Possible — primarily grey/black ablative marks |
| Marking solid gold / silver | Surface marks | Deepest, most repeatable marks | Surface marks |
| Reliable colour on stainless / titanium | Limited | Yes — tunable MOPA palette | Limited and less repeatable — possible but not the ideal tool |
| Plated jewellery (rhodium / gold overlay) | Possible with care | Possible with carefully tuned MOPA settings | Most forgiving — smaller heat-affected zone |
| Gemstones, resin, acrylic inlays | Limited | Heat-sensitive — needs careful settings | Best fit |
| Batch / production throughput | Single-piece, counter pace | High-volume galvo | High-volume galvo |
| RA3 rotary | Compatible | Compatible | Compatible |
| Other accessory | Slide extension → 115 × 400 mm work area | Auto Streamline conveyor | Auto Streamline conveyor |
| Footprint | Portable desktop | Desktop galvo | Desktop galvo |
For in-store personalisation — xTool F2
If your shop currently sends rings out for engraving — or hands them to a manual rotary engraver or diamond-drag scribe at the back of the counter — the xTool F2 is the machine that replaces both. Its 5 W infrared fibre laser surface-marks gold, silver, stainless, titanium and copper, and the 15 W blue diode handles light non-metals like leather straps, wood gift boxes and acrylic tags.
Why it beats a manual engraver:
- Non-contact. There's no chuck or stylus pressure, so thin shanks, hollow pendants and stone-set pieces don't risk distortion or cracked settings.
- Repeatable digital artwork — any font, monogram, logo, signature or photograph, identical every time. Photo engraving on metal keepsakes simply isn't possible with a scribe.
- Counter-friendly footprint and a 120 mm work height, so rings, lockets, watch case-backs and small jewellery boxes fit underneath without a fixture.
- The customer can watch the job. Same-day personalisation is a service margin you keep in-house instead of sending out and waiting a week.
- No consumables — no diamond tips to replace, no cutters to sharpen, no setup tape. Add the slide extension for batch runs of pet tags, hip flasks or wedding favours up to 115 × 400 mm.
Honest limit: 5 W IR is a marking power, not a deep-engraving power. For hallmark-depth strikes or production-rate colour annealing on titanium, step up to the F2 Ultra Dual below.
For bench work in precious metals — F2 Ultra Dual
When marking depth, throughput or repeatable colour on titanium matters, the MOPA fibre source in the F2 Ultra Dual is the right tool. MOPA pulse-width tuning is what makes annealed colour on titanium and stainless stable batch-to-batch, and the galvo format is fast enough for serialisation, hallmarking and high-volume bench runs on silver, gold and brass. Pair it with a rotary attachment for rings and cuffs.
For plated and finished pieces — F2 Ultra UV
Plated jewellery — rhodium, gold or silver overlays — is where any laser can damage thin plating if power, pulse width or speed aren't carefully dialled in. The F2 Ultra UV's 355 nm "cold" process puts less heat into the surface than IR or fibre, which makes it the more forgiving choice for plated, coated and finished stock. It also marks gemstones, resin inlays, acrylic and leather without heat damage, so it earns its place in any studio handling mixed substrates. UV will also mark bare stainless and precious metals with grey or black ablative marks; for reliable, tunable colour on metal a MOPA fibre like the F2 Ultra Dual is the better tool.
One machine, two, or all three?
High-street personalisation only — start with the F2. It replaces the manual engraver and pays for itself on walk-in name, date and photo jobs.
Bench studio in solid precious metals — the F2 Ultra Dual. Depth, speed and colour on titanium that the F2 can't reach.
Plated stock or mixed substrates — the F2 Ultra UV. Its lower-heat process is the most forgiving on plating, resin and heat-sensitive inlays.
Studios doing all three end up owning more than one machine — they don't overlap. We cover the workflow in more depth on the jewellers' laser setups page, and you can book an independent consultation before committing.
Jeweller FAQs
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