Leon and AVCs

[kenny]

I think its a bit of a show too. He's the soup Nazi of the jewelry world. I can't believe this is the same man who was so kind and comforting when a member here's cat passed away and make her an "M" pendant to remember her by.

I think it's a selling ploy to have an air of aloofness and rudeness to some people, like JAR, and others in certain retail business.

I agree.
I suspect his business plan includes actually intentionally getting famous for treating some people like crap.
It actually appeals to customers of a certain psychology.

"Oh, he was nice to mmeeeeeeeee" so I'm in the exclusive club."

 

[slg47]

Is it me or does the second part seem to strongly indicate that Leon's cushions are genuine antiques? (Which obviously they aren't.) At best it's worded very misleadingly in that respect.

I've always found this wording confusing. Are they antique? Are they his "interpretation" of antique cuts, i.e., specially cut to his specs (if so, how can he slam GOG's AVC's when he's doing the same thing)? Or is he simply sourcing cushion cut stones from a wholesaler, like any number of jewelers out there?

The wording is very misleading.

I believe Leon is sourcing "artisan antique cushions" (that are not actually antique) from the same suppliers that many of the other vendors do? At least this was my understanding...

 

[TravelingGal]

I think its a bit of a show too. He's the soup Nazi of the jewelry world. I can't believe this is the same man who was so kind and comforting when a member here's cat passed away and make her an "M" pendant to remember her by.

I think it's a selling ploy to have an air of aloofness and rudeness to some people, like JAR, and others in certain retail business.

I agree.
I suspect his business plan includes actually intentionally getting famous for treating some people like crap.
It actually appeals to customers of a certain psychology.

"Oh, he was nice to mmeeeeeeeee" so I'm in the exclusive club."

I think it's more that some are relieved they got their product unscathed!

You're in no "club" with him, if he's nice to you - because I very well think the next time he may not be. You take a chance if you want his product. Hit or miss, people can decide.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

It really does not make since to me why he would do this. He gets so many referrals from this website that really leans towards well cut stones. And than he does not offer the same amount of information for his stones and than shuts out the competition. Clearly this is a huge source of business for him as he puts up a lot of banners.

From my experience with Leon, he does not keep his policies up to date.

It actually does not surprise me this happened, all the cards were lining up in the right direction. It still does not make me happy .

 

[kenny]

LM figured out flipping stones is higher profit than making rings.
Compare the expenses of those two activities.

 

[Amethyste]

.

I can't WAIT till someone replaces that man as the 'pave god' on here.... all we need is one person with his skills and a NORMAL personality and Leon would be left with nothing in his workshop but flies.

i NEVER liked him and I never will. The way he talked to me on the phone - left me hummmm how can I say this... Left me sorry for even existing.

There is someone that does AMAZING pave work - his name is Steven Kirsch - he's in NYC as well. He did the pave work for a Ruby ring I once had. His work is impeccable! His website is: www.timelessluxury.net

 

[Amethyste]

You're in no "club" with him, if he's nice to you - because I very well think the next time he may not be. You take a chance if you want his product. Hit or miss, people can decide.

No one likes to be treated like a punching bag. THe man has PMS. Primadona Masculine Syndrome.

 

[LtlFirecracker]

LM figured out flipping stones is higher profit than making rings.
Compare the expenses of those two activities.

That is fine, many vendors do refuse to set outside stones. But he really should have a clear well written policy. He seems to "change" his policies to what suits his situation best.

 

[ringabling]

I agree.
I suspect his business plan includes actually intentionally getting famous for treating some people like crap.
It actually appeals to customers of a certain psychology.

"Oh, he was nice to mmeeeeeeeee" so I'm in the exclusive club."

Ok, wow. . . kind of a harsh generalization.

I worked w/ him and had no trouble; I expected trouble, but didn't get it from him and I know he's had a very big personal event in his life this December that almost made it next to impossible for me to get to even meet w/ him.
I had not heard of any real issues besides his quirkiness, nothing about quality issues and I certainly don't feel like I'm in any exclusive club
I have CS issue w/ Tiffany's, others don't . . . pretty normal.
I don't think it's fair to be so flippant about his customers/members like that though.

 

[Love Street]

I think it's more that some are relieved they got their product unscathed!

You're in no "club" with him, if he's nice to you - because I very well think the next time he may not be. You take a chance if you want his product. Hit or miss, people can decide.

Yes, this is me. I am relieved that my project was completed without an issue, and with an AVC to boot. I would consider him for a band or perhaps another project, if I could. But I don't feel special or "in" - just lucky.
Feeling like I have to start threads like this to figure out my "approach" doesn't appeal to my consumer psychology! It feels like doing somewhat stressful due diligence for a work project that I really want to get through.

 

[luv2sparkle]

After thinking about this topic, I realized that Leon is not the only one who does this. I remember seeing settings on
Whiteflash that they would only sell if you purchased their diamond. So while Leon's attitude can definitely offend, he is not the
only PS vendor who has this policy.

 

[kenny]

After thinking about this topic, I realized that Leon is not the only one who does this. I remember seeing settings on
Whiteflash that they would only sell if you purchased their diamond. So while Leon's attitude can definitely offend, he is not the
only PS vendor who has this policy.

I take NO offense to his diamond buying policies.

Much of what he says to and how he treats his own paying customers is astonishingly offensive.

 

[cpm223]

Leon is currently setting my AVC in a halo. The fact that it was an AVC never came up. I met with Perry twice to see if he could source me a stone. He didn't have the specs for which I was looking. I bought my AVC and then made an appointment with Leon (after submitting a quote request) to go over design. At our meeting, I handed him my AVC, he looked at it through a loop and then we moved on to talking about design. At the end of the meeting, I handed him a copy of the cert for the AVC (which indicated the AVC inscription in the girdle), he looked at it very briefly and then handed it to Rachael. That's all a long way of saying that I didn't have any issues, but maybe that's because I gave Perry a shot.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

haha! slg already said this, but I just saw a banner ad from LM that advertised "Artisan Antique Diamonds"! I just find that very funny after his little comments on his site about how stupid it was to name diamonds silly names (in reference to August Vintage)!

 

[T L]

.

I can't WAIT till someone replaces that man as the 'pave god' on here.... all we need is one person with his skills and a NORMAL personality and Leon would be left with nothing in his workshop but flies.

i NEVER liked him and I never will. The way he talked to me on the phone - left me hummmm how can I say this... Left me sorry for even existing.

There is someone that does AMAZING pave work - his name is Steven Kirsch - he's in NYC as well. He did the pave work for a Ruby ring I once had. His work is impeccable! His website is: www.timelessluxury.net

Admittedly, I"m not in RockyTalky that often, but it seems I only hear Leon mentioned when someone wants a high quality pave handmade ring. Now this is not to bash Leon at all, but why does it seem like Leon is the only one that is mentioned on Pricescope when someone wants this style of ring? I know there's Etsy, and jewelers the do cast settings like Whiteflash, JBEG, and others, but it seems Leon is the cream of the crop on this forum. Is there no one else in the world that makes these very fine high quality handmade pave platinum settings, and as the same quality as Leon??? Before I came to Pricescope, I never heard of Leon (???)

BTW Amethyste, thanks for the referral for Steven Kirsch.

I apologize to anyone if I don't seem to know what I'm talking about, or if I offended. It's just an observation and I could be totally wrong, so if I am, someone please correct me.

 

[that_someone_special]

I've been here almost 3 years. In those three years, LEON is the one vendor I've seen reports about over and over again about how the customer was treated poorly, their ring isn't what they wanted (and he told them they were SOL), or even people being SCARED of asking for what they want in a ring.

Enough people! Don't give this monster your money anymore.

 

[that_someone_special]

I agree.
I suspect his business plan includes actually intentionally getting famous for treating some people like crap.
It actually appeals to customers of a certain psychology.

"Oh, he was nice to mmeeeeeeeee" so I'm in the exclusive club."

I don't think it's fair to be so flippant about his customers/members like that though.

But... maybe it's true?
Yeah, I think it is.

By all means, continue to do business with him but I won't be surprised when I see you complaining here (later on..) about him either.
It's only a matter of time.

 

[Gypsy]

.

I can't WAIT till someone replaces that man as the 'pave god' on here.... all we need is one person with his skills and a NORMAL personality and Leon would be left with nothing in his workshop but flies.

i NEVER liked him and I never will. The way he talked to me on the phone - left me hummmm how can I say this... Left me sorry for even existing.

There is someone that does AMAZING pave work - his name is Steven Kirsch - he's in NYC as well. He did the pave work for a Ruby ring I once had. His work is impeccable! His website is: www.timelessluxury.net

Um. Freaking stunning, delicate metal baguette halo on that site. HELLO. I've been looking for someone who can do that for FOUR YEARS!

I'm afraid to ask... but how is his pricing????

 

[Gypsy]

I've been here almost 3 years. In those three years, LEON is the one vendor I've seen reports about over and over again about how the customer was treated poorly, their ring isn't what they wanted (and he told them they were SOL), or even people being SCARED of asking for what they want in a ring.

Enough people! Don't give this monster your money anymore.

Anyone remember Ellen's ring when he gouged her center stone?

 

[kenny]

I've been here almost 3 years. In those three years, LEON is the one vendor I've seen reports about over and over again about how the customer was treated poorly, their ring isn't what they wanted (and he told them they were SOL), or even people being SCARED of asking for what they want in a ring.

Enough people! Don't give this monster your money anymore.

Why is Leon Mege still a PS vendor?
What does a vendor have to do to get expelled from PS's list?

IMHO, allowing LM to remain a PS vendor really is a slap in the face of PS's reputation.
The harm to PS's reputation can't be worth the money LM pays PS.

Also, Leon actions indicate he has more work then he needs so clearly doesn't need to advertise here.

 

[slg47]

.

I can't WAIT till someone replaces that man as the 'pave god' on here.... all we need is one person with his skills and a NORMAL personality and Leon would be left with nothing in his workshop but flies.

i NEVER liked him and I never will. The way he talked to me on the phone - left me hummmm how can I say this... Left me sorry for even existing.

There is someone that does AMAZING pave work - his name is Steven Kirsch - he's in NYC as well. He did the pave work for a Ruby ring I once had. His work is impeccable! His website is: www.timelessluxury.net

Um. Freaking stunning, delicate metal baguette halo on that site. HELLO. I've been looking for someone who can do that for FOUR YEARS!

I'm afraid to ask... but how is his pricing????

gypsy, maybe contact him? I remember checking out that website when amethyste posted it before, there are some beautiful pieces. I think one of the reasons we 'recommend' Leon so much (perhaps with several grains of salt...make that sea salt!) is that we have so many examples of his work on PS, and it is hard to recommend outside vendors, especially custom designers, that are 'unknown' to us.

 

[Gypsy]

Oh I already did. The second I saw that ring. He's the first person (including Daniel K AND Leon) that I've seen do the metal work the way I've seen it in my head!

We'll see. I'm just afraid of an 8K qoute and wanted a little hope that MAYBE his prices might make the design attainable.

 

[slg47]

ok, well let us know how it turns out!

 

[CherryBlossom]

Oh I already did. The second I saw that ring. He's the first person (including Daniel K AND Leon) that I've seen do the metal work the way I've seen it in my head!

We'll see. I'm just afraid of an 8K qoute and wanted a little hope that MAYBE his prices might make the design attainable.

Please don't forget to update us about what he says.

 

[Imdanny]

I loved that ruby ring. It was every bit as fine as any Leon I saw on PS.

 

[slg47]

I loved that ruby ring. It was every bit as fine as any Leon I saw on PS.

what ruby ring?

 

[Amethyste]

I loved that ruby ring. It was every bit as fine as any Leon I saw on PS.

what ruby ring?

Here's the link on the ruby ring:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ruby-e-ring.115505/?hilit=amethyste%20ruby']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ruby-e-ring.115505/?hilit=amethyste%20ruby[/URL]

His prices are excellent - a little less than leon's, but I think it all depends on the project and it's complexity. You will not be disappointed with his work. His pave work is impeccable.

 

[LALove]

I loved that ruby ring. It was every bit as fine as any Leon I saw on PS.

what ruby ring?

Here's the link on the ruby ring:

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ruby-e-ring.115505/?hilit=amethyste%20ruby']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/ruby-e-ring.115505/?hilit=amethyste%20ruby[/URL]

His prices are excellent - a little less than leon's, but I think it all depends on the project and it's complexity. You will not be disappointed with his work. His pave work is impeccable.

Amethyste that ruby ring is stunning!!!!! The craftsmanship looks flawless and as good as Leons. Thank you so much for posting this!!

 

[Amethyste]

LALove,

My pleasure! I have not talked to Steven in a while, so if anyone of you do, please pass along my warmest regards!

 

[TimMD]

.

I can't WAIT till someone replaces that man as the 'pave god' on here.... all we need is one person with his skills and a NORMAL personality and Leon would be left with nothing in his workshop but flies.

i NEVER liked him and I never will. The way he talked to me on the phone - left me hummmm how can I say this... Left me sorry for even existing.

There is someone that does AMAZING pave work - his name is Steven Kirsch - he's in NYC as well. He did the pave work for a Ruby ring I once had. His work is impeccable! His website is: www.timelessluxury.net

Wow, absolutely STUNNING!!! His pave work as you stated, impeccable. It was fun to just appreciate his work. Thank you so much for sharing his site and your experience.