Ohhhhhhhhhhhh Leon!!!!

[reena]

okay, i'm flushed, my hands are shaking, i can hardly breathe . . . i just got back from a setting appointment with leon mege and all i can say is WOW. i just felt i had to share this with people who would appreciate it . . .

as you may know from my obsessive posts on this board, i have been on the hunt for a setting for my new cushion cut e-ring diamond, and i've decided to use leon because i have been droooooling over the stuff on his site (www.artofplatinum.com) for months now. i have an appointment with him next week, at which point i am planning to bring the stone and the BF in to make a final decision. however, as i am nowhere near a final decision, i called him up today to see if i could come in and look at some pictures of his stuff, and he said sure.

lemme tell ya, if you like the stuff on his website you should see the book of pictures in his office.

i was flipping through, and i'd say i liked a particular ring, and he's say, "oh, that's sylvester stallone's wife's ring" or "that's eddie murphy's wife's ring". (apparently he doesn't work with these people directly but various high end jewelers hire him to do custom work for their clients.) THEN he tells me that he also did ashley judd's cushion cut e-ring (for martin katz i think)--i.e., the very ring that inspired me to want a cushion cut in the first place. wow.

he didn't have a ton of stuff for me to try on, but did show me a few simple wedding bands as examples of his pave work, both with and without the milgrained edge. both were amazing, but i think in the end i preferred the edged pave (which is what most of you liked, too!

)

leon did let me try on an amazing halo-set (apparently the stuff i've been calling bezel set is not truly bezel set, because it involves prongs and the stones are set below the top of the diamond, but whatever) micropave ring (no milgrain) with unbelievable detailing on the underside--very similar to the side of ms. judd's ring. the ring itself was made with both yellow and white diamonds (i'll post a pic in a minute), but i could tell i would loooove it with plain diamonds. it was unbelievably delicate and the "halo" was thin thin thin (about 1mm) and didn't overwhelm the stone at all, like i had worried about. he told me he could also make the same setting with a milgrain edge, and it would look more antique. (i have a pic of that too). im reallllly thinking about going this route now, so i'll post the pics and you guys can tell me what you think.

i am so excited!

thanks for letting me share.

 

[moremoremore]

That's awesome! I've decided that when my jubilee comes, I am going to have him make me that asscher setting but with no diamonds b/c I'm just a 'simple' gal lol. Can't wait to see yours!

 

[sevens one]

Wow, what an experience.

 

[reena]

okay, here they are.

the plain pave ring i tried on is the top picture. now let's pause here for a moment to note the obvious fact that this ring is just plain UG-LY with the yellow diamonds. i call it the bumblebee betrothal. so don't let that throw you, you have to trust me for a minute here it would be a stunning ring in plain diamonds. (in person it looks essentially the same as the one below it without the milgrain, and without the cathedral element to the shank.) what i loved the most was the work on the underside of the stone and also how delicate the whole ring was (probably only about 2mm thick).

but i think i'm leaning toward the one below, which leon assured me could be made nearly as thin and delicate as the other one. (in the picture it looks like it might have the potential to be chunky.) when i first saw this ring in the picture i worried that the underwork might be "too much", but in person (at least judging from the first ring) it's really just the most beautiful, elegant thing ever. what i looooove about it is the antique look it gives to the ring.

and, check out my double claws!

finally, and i don't have a picture of this, i could go with what leon calls the "ashley judd", which is essentially the second ring without the halo, so all you'd see from the top down is the stone and the double claws. also very nice. (i bet i'm going to get a lot of takers on that one.

) something to think about, but i really liked the unique look of the halo (i always have).

the only problematic portion of the visit was the realization that to get either of the first two rings, i'm going to blow my setting budget (and leon's original quote) by $1500-$2000. considering i also did that (and worse) on the stone, this is not good.

poor, poor brad. (i suppose a benefit of the "ashley judd" option is that it would likely be a little less expensive due to lack of halo.)

that's it--as always, i'd love to hear your opinions!

REENA

 

[reena]

mmm! you totally should! i saw another pic of the asscher while i was there and it didn't look dark. may have been the lighting on the first picture or something.

 

[Carmel]

Reena ~

Well, only an angel is supposed to wear a halo…so if the shoe fits…!

Actually, my vote is for the second-picture version (the black & white one). Why? Because personally, I like the look of the lattice/scroll work under the platform of the stone. I think that’s what you referred to as being fond of, as well. Also – and maybe I’m screwed up here a bit in my perspective – but the second version shows the stone being somewhat raised. I like that, as it seems to show off the cushy qualities of the stone better.

So, you have my vote. Either way, you’re gonna be some high society angel sporting one of those!

 

[gingerBcookie]

The second one the second one! It is G*O*R*O*G*E*O*U*S!

I am typically not an antique ring kind of gal but how could you not appreciate the detailing on that baby?! The scrollwork is EXQUISITE and I love love love the look the milgrain adds to the whole picture.

wow

 

[sevens one]

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On 8/26/2004 1:03:24 PM moremoremore wrote:

That's awesome! I've decided that when my jubilee comes, I am going to have him make me that asscher setting but with no diamonds b/c I'm just a 'simple' gal lol. Can't wait to see yours!----------------

Any promising news from J?

 

[Hest88]

Thanks Reena! When you're all done, do you mind if I PM you for the total cost of the setting? I'm really curious how much it would cost me.

Okay, looking at both pictures, I prefer the 2nd--even taking into the account the hideous yellow diamonds in the first. The 2nd looks more delicate while the first is reminding me the Jetsons' house.

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 8/26/2004 1:13:04 PM reena wrote:



...finally, and i don't have a picture of this, i could go with what leon calls the 'ashley judd', which is essentially the second ring without the halo,

----------------

Is it close to either of those below (keeping the "bubble" undercarriage) ?

Leon does make my favorite ring too. I can't wait to pay a visit latter this year

 

[reena]

thanks guys. yes, it's the second. it has to be the second. i'm in looooove.

hest i'd be glad to tell you the cost--i was surprised, leon is actually fairly reasonable for custom work. (keep in mind that at first i was looking at (far less detailed) michael b and daniel k settings, and those run MUCH more, around $7-$10k!

)

actually i'll tell you what he quoted me for it today, but it was ballpark: between $4k and $5k. (i hope you all don't think it's inappropriate for me to be discussing prices, but this is a consumer site so i think it's useful for people to be able to have this info to evaluate their options. ie, why pay for a designer setting thats not exactly what you want when you can get someone to make something you love for less?)

 

[reena]

sort of, val. it's more similar to the top one you posted (plus bubblework) but with the claw prongs of the bottom one. it actually looks a lot like this pic below (but again, with claw prongs), which i also love. that ring is from estatediamondjewelry.com; i went in there the other day and the lady told me the setting was made to look like AJ's. (they sell antique stones but some of their settings are new settings made to look antique.)

which leon ring is your fave, val?

 

[chrono]

I like the AJ ring. However, if you like the halo look, then I'd choose the second picture (non-bumble bee).

 

[moremoremore]

Can I ask a dumb question here? What happens when you wear a wedding band and #1- all the work on the 'bottom' of the shank is covered and #2- they rub up against eachother? Are there any issues?

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 8/26/2004 2:45:44 PM reena wrote:



which leon ring is your fave, val?----------------

Well, here it is. My boyfriend received my former favorite ring as a gift, so I need a replacemet. Badly! I know it will have to look like this

with a non-white stone.

 

[reena]

oooh, val i hadn't seen that one yet! you should definitely go in though, leon is such a nice guy.

MMM: my dear, you hit the nail on the head. that is THE dilemma. i hadn't thought about the "covering up the work" aspect, which is a good point, but leon's recommendation was that i not even wear a w-band with the ring because the rubbing factor will eventually take a toll on the ring. (he said that would be his recommendation with any m-pave setting, though, so i didn't get the sense that his work is particularly fragile or anything.)

what do you guys think? is it lame to not wear a w band or to wear it on your left hand? i really want to wear one, but i would hate to look down at the ring and not be able to see all of that detail that i love. (although maybe the w ring (i want a tiny one) would sit flat enough that it wouldnt cover too much of it up.) do you think L was being cautious, or is the damage factor real?

 

[valeria101]

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On 8/26/2004 3:16:23 PM reena wrote:

oooh, val i hadn't seen that one yet! you should definitely go in though, leon is such a nice guy.

----------------

No surprise... they think it's a guy's ring! Sure it can be done size 3 though

About the wedding band dilema: I think it can be arranged so that the band does not rub the ring. Some sets come with a "pin" or clip to hold the two pieces in place... and I am quite sure Leon could come up with a reasonable solution. It seems that these pave rings have a free side on the bottom for sizing, so this could be the base for a clip without affecting the rest of the ring in any way.

 

[moremoremore]

Is it stupid to not have the bottom pave done on the shank and have a band made to exactly match the shank of the ring so they fit snug? But I guess that would look odd until you started wearing the band. And no, I think it's totally ok to wear the band and ring sep'ly.

 

[sparkler29]

WOW Reena! What a cool experience! My vote (and this is probably because I'm hoping to get something similar for my cushion-cut e-ring) is for the Ashley Judd style. But...since you are enamored of the bezel/halo look and keep coming back to that, I would say you should go for the one in the second picture (non-bumblebee). Follow your heart

 

[reena]

thanks for the advice guys!

now that im sitting here looking at it the bumblebee looks just horrid--you must all think i had terrible taste! but i swear in person it was so nice.

clearly though if i go halo i'll do #2, if not then the AJ. (but, i dont really want to be walking around wearing a replica of some famous person's e-ring, either! that's weird.) i'm going to talk to my honey tonight and see what he thinks.

thanks for giving me an outlet for gushing!

 

[valeria101]

The first one looks nice to me too for a change - color pave loks great on black metal, and there is a good amount of exquisite jewelry being made this way (Boucheron

). But it does not look bad in white either even in a clumsy picture...

 

[reena]

VAL! you are the WOMAN. seriously. how do you do all of that stuff with the computer? i'm so impressed with you.

by the way, on the topic of leon's pricing, in the interest of complete disclosure i should add that i received a substantially lower quote for the simpler pave setting i had originally asked him about--he was asking even less than some other local jewelers with whom i inquired. (i think that the price jump to $4-5k just has to do with intricacy of the settings i saw today. i may ask him to tone the setting down a bit--ie, do i really need pave on the UNDERside of the halo?--so that he'll go down on the price.)

my point is just that i don't necessarily think the prices i mentioned earlier are representative of what it would cost to have him do a custom setting--something of a simpler design or in plain platinum would likely be much more reasonable.

i believe someone else on the board had him to a platinum claw-prong solitaire setting and it was around $1000.

 

[moremoremore]

I personally think the pave on the underside is just way too much. IMO it's just overwhelming at that point...And I think the more light that's allowed to get into the stone, the better, no?

 

[linny14]

you can not go wrong with those settings. your ring is going to gorgeous can't wait to see a picture of it.

 

[elmo]

----------------
On 8/26/2004 2:09:47 PM Hest88 wrote:

I prefer the 2nd--even taking into the account the hideous yellow diamonds in the first.
----------------

Hey, those yellow diamonds are screamin' cool! It's the ring that is hideous

.

 

[Jennifer5973]

I continue to be fascinated with and admiring of those who are masters of their crafts. Leon is one of the masters in his craft and I am so excited for you that you were able to see him and have that experience. Maybe somedeay I will get to go there!

This is so exciting...I can't decide what ring I like best but I think the AJ version is at the top of my list also. keep us posted--I really can't wait to see this magnificent thing!

 

[valeria101]

----------------
On 8/26/2004 8:26:26 PM moremoremore wrote:



And I think the more light that's allowed to get into the stone, the better, no?
----------------

Hm... from the finger? Mine does not radiate light at all

Joke aside... I keep hearing this. High settings (meaning, diamond floating way above finger) make those stones look obviously different, but low set ones maybe less so. Just curious if this high vs. low setting effect was obvious to you too or it is just me

 

[reena]

thanks all. it will be a tough decision, but i think i'll just have to go in there with the BF, get his opinion and leon's, and choose one already. enough with the stressing!

at this point i think the choice is really the AJ version vs. the AJ plus "halo"--i've decided that the whitewashed bumblebee is too modern for me. (BUT, i swear to you that it was NOT hideous in person! give me some credit, i have good taste!

)

either way though (halo or non halo) i think i am set on the bubblework (as val called it) on the undercarriage of the ring (i was talking about something different before when i mentioned maybe eliminating the pave "under" the halo) . . . i hear you on the "too much" point mmm, but honestly it's quite delicate in person and to me that's the aspect of the ring that really "does it" for me and sets it apart from all of the others--i've seen a lot of gorgeous settings at this point but none have grabbed me like this one. so i guess thats a good sign!

i really do appreciate everyone's wonderful advice and i will definitely keep you posted. REENA