Leon, Steven Kirsch or Victor Canera for halo setting?

I’ve been lurking for about 2 months on this site and have met with a number of jewelers (ERD, Good Old Gold) to find the perfect antique cushion. Perry Chen found me a beautiful one that fits all the criteria and was right in my budget. Now it’s onto settings, and I’m very torn as to what to do.

Since Perry sourced my cushion, it makes a lot of sense to get it set by Leon. However, I have a few concerns about that route:

1. Timeframe: Leon needs 4-6 weeks, and I know the boyfriend wants to propose in early March for personal reasons. Since I haven’t nailed down every detail of the setting yet, I don’t know if we can get it done fast enough. I believe Victor Canera has a faster turnaround time.

2. Price: My guess from reading various posts is that Leon will be a bit more expensive than Victor, although probably the same price as Steven Kirsch.

3. Miscellaneous: I think I may want to "tweak" my setting details and may be a bit indecisive. Generally, I want the classic halo (Adriana, I think it’s called), but as far as melee size and cut, shank size, etc., I am totally undecided. I also am undecided as to whether I want to wear the wedding bank and engagement ring together (I know Leon refuses to make them so that they sit flush). Overall, from reading the forum, I’m getting the sense that I may incur a PITA fee from Leon and that it’s a tossup as to whether I’ll have a great experience with him.

As far as going with Steven or Victor, I also had some concerns:

1. The main concern is that if I have Leon ship it to another jeweler, he’ll get upset at the thought of me getting it set elsewhere and refuse to ship it to another jeweler to be set or blacklist me. (Being blacklisted would be difficult because if I wanted to trade in/upgrade my diamond, I would have to go back to Perry). Basically, I don’t want to burn my bridges with Leon.

2. I could get it shipped to myself (I don’t live in NY) and then send it via registered mail to Victor or Steven, but that sounds like a bit of a hassle and I don’t really want to have a loose stone in my possession without insurance. (It would be insured on both trips, but not when I had it in between the trips).

3. I am a little concerned about working with Victor because he’s in LA and I wouldn’t be able to see anything in person or get sized by him. This wouldn’t be a problem if I went with Leon or Steven.

Any thoughts would be appreciated! Sorry for the long post. As you can see, I am having quite the dilemma and would appreciate your opinions.