Hey Widget

[mrssalvo]

you posted over in Didiamonds thread the following: to avoid a threadjack I thought I''d start a new one..

Date: 8/9/2006 3:13:07 PM
Author: widget

By the way..I''m having Leon Mege remount my mom''s asscher as we speak. I don''t know if you saw it, but there was a SF Gettogether and seeing my big tall clunker next to all those gorgeous delicate mountings pushed me over the edge....talk about too much metal! LOL..



widget

first off, YAY

I know Leon will do an amazing job. can you give us any clues to how you are going to have it set??

 

[sanfranciscoellen]

Widget...

Wow, you are FAST! I could see those schemy little wheels turning when you were in palo alto, but you are FAST!

Will you keep the three stone look? I saw that Leon Mege in icestore''s gallery pic here on PS and thought that it might just be a little twin!

 

[Kaleigh]

How exciting widget!!! I can''t wait to see it, yay for you!!!

 

[KristyDarling]

Spill, woman!!!!

Details, please!!!! I have a feeling yours is going to be the Mother Asscher ring of all asscher rings!!!

 

[belle]

ohmygosh this is going to be amazing!
that is the most beautiful asscher ever!
i can''t wait to see it!

 

[FireGoddess]

Oh yeah, spill it Widget!!!

 

[Art Nouveau]

Widget,

I am also very interested in what you are doing with your Asscher. Can''t wait to see your Leon ''makeover''. If you wish to keep the design a surprise, I understand. But would you mind sharing your experience dealing with Leon? Did you just call him or did you send him an email first? How long did it take to finalize the design? Did he send sketches or did you just let him do his thing?

AN

 

[CareBear]

Oh i''m curious too! Leon''s designs are amazing and so it Widget''s rock. Can''t wait to see the end result!

 

[decodelighted]

WIDGET!!! Before you get too far ... GO HERE!!!!! Okay I mean HERE.

The images are copyright protected but this pave split shank is EXACTLY what I picture for "Big Mama" ...MMMMMMMMM

 

[Mara]

ha ha you guys are like flies on meat! in a good way of course. like sparkly flies on diamond meat. yeah. hehee. hawk eyes man!

 

[Kim N]

Oh, another Leon project! This is exciting! Can someone post a "before" picture?

 

[widget]

Hi, MrsS! You noticed!

It's funny...I wasn't sure at first I wanted to "go public" with this project, but I'm actually more excited than I could have imagined, and couldn't resist!

The new mounting will be Leon's basic "Harry Winstonesque" three stone basket mounting. The center stone will be set with double prongs, and I requested that all three stones sit as close to the finger as possible. I'm guessing that the side ECs will be a little more tilted than they are now.

I suppose it might be shocking that I'm not micro managing this more, but I trust LM's instincts better than mine. It's possible 'normal' people won't even notice the difference, but I bet PSers will! Can't wait to get it back and post before and after pictures. Even Leon said the old mounting is pretty awful....LOL

He's had it for three weeks as of today, so it shouldn't be much longer. I can't wait!!!!

Thanks for asking!

widget

ETA:
Wow....talk about fast! Look at all the responses since I typed this! Hee hee...I hope you all aren't too disappointed that the changes aren't going to be TOO dramatic! I just want a beautiful simple threestone...I told him I wanted it with stones set as low as possible, with as little metal as possible showing face up...that's it!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

WOW--this is exciting; but oh the wait!!!! Glad your computer is up and running.

Look forward to the result of your remodel!

cheers--Sharon

 

[widget]

Author: Art Nouveau
But would you mind sharing your experience dealing with Leon? Did you just call him or did you send him an email first? How long did it take to finalize the design? Did he send sketches or did you just let him do his thing?

AN

Hi, AN...

He seems like a nice enough guy, but as you can surmise from my post above I really didn''t "work" with him that much. Since I''m sticking with a pretty basic design, there wasn''t a LOT of chit chat, no drawings, etc etc.

I contacted him first through his onsite "ask a question" link. I described the stones involved, what I wanted, and oh yes...dropped KristyDarling''s name.

He got back to me within a day or so..

I''m GUESSING that it''s easiest to work with him when you let him pretty much do his own thing...

widget

 

[Scintillating]

For those of you who'd like a Before:

I love your Mom's asscher.

*Sigh*
Question, I know you said the side stones don't "match" it, maybe you should have Leon match some sidestones to it if they bug you? (even trade maybe?)

Scintillating...

BW: (Before widget, how her Mom wore it.)

 

[widget]

Hi, Scintillating...thanks for posting the "before" pics...

I don't think I said the sides don't "match"...they are actually very close in color/clarity to the big'n... I admit that revisiting Didiamond's EC with traps did give me pause, though...

I'm actually fond of these sides...they're old too (out of another antique ring) and I have always been partial to rings with lots of E/W finger coverage. My fingers seem to 'widen' at the base, and for some reason I imagine this look is 'finger slimming'..

Oh dear! Now I'm starting to second guess myself!

Well, it's too late, anyhow, the new mounting is well on it's way. I'm quite confident that it will at least be a vast improvement over the old one.

BTW...for those who are thinking that the original '20s mounting with baguettes is best, it's safely tucked away. I'm pretty sure my DIL will put the diamond back into its original mounting when she finally gets custody...

widget

 

[KristyDarling]

Widget, based on what you described, the ring will be exquisite. Truly, truly amazing. It will be dainty, elegant, simple, low-set (love it!!!), and....you''ll get to keep your across-the-finger spannage!!!

This is going to be a work of art. How much longer must we all wait???

 

[KristyDarling]

No no no! Don''t second-guess yourself! I *adored* your 3-stone in person. I mean, can you ever *really* have too many asschers? 1 is stunning, 3 is like dying and going to heaven! Heehee. And most importantly, with the sleek design that you''ve requested (clean, simple), those stones will be highlighted to perfection. Now, if you had asked for 3-sided pave with halos around all 3 stones and pave all over the basket, then I''d say, whoa there girl cuz the stones would get lost in the setting. But the simplicity that you''re going for is *exactly* what I would''ve done too.

It''s going to be all about those amazing asschers.

 

[widget]

OH, KD!!! THANK YOU!!

It is so EASY for me to start second guessing myself....your kind words do give me comfort...

I just wrote Leon (he''ll think I''m crazy) telling him how I''m now worried that I should have talked "sidestones" to him before we started, and that I hoped he liked how it was coming out, and when will it be done, etc etc...

See? I am a little nutso... You''re right, what could be too wrong with an LM three-asscher ring?

I''ll just calm down now....and WAIT...

widget

 

[Snooper]

Widget! That''s really cool! I had no idea who was resetting the stones It''ll be so beautiful. I let him do what ever and didn''t talk about specifics too. WOW!! Congrats!!!

 

[Kim N]

Date: 8/11/2006 6:26:18 PM
Author: widget
See? I am a little nutso... You''re right, what could be too wrong with an LM three-asscher ring?

Widget, the answer is, NOTHING!

I''m sure the ring will turn out absolutely stunning. Question, if your side stones are EC, then how will the ring be a three-asscher ring?

 

[widget]

Hi Kim...

I was using the term ''asscher'' with a lower case "a". Technically it will be a three-EC ring. The center stone isn''t a true asscher either...you can tell by the elongated culet that it''s definitely off-square...

widget

 

[swingirl]

I''m excited for you, Widget! Your beautiful asshers will look wonderful in anything Leon makes. I can hardly wait to see what the new Queen will look like. I haven''t contacted him again about my much smaller asscher (mine is like one of your side stones!) because we went on vacation and I didn''t want to have to worry about it while I was away swimming in the ocean. I got the same feeling about him as you did. If you trust him and his eye, you won''t be disappointed.

I hope to see your beauty in person at one of our future Bay Area Get Togethers. Until then I will be checking PS often for pictures!

Good luck and I hope it comes out more beautiful than you can imagine.

 

[Kim N]

Thanks for the explanation, Widget. I''m not that knowledgeable about the fancies yet.

Can''t wait to see your re-set.

 

[FireGoddess]

It''s going to be stunning Widget, I have no doubt!!!! Glad to see you didn''t dump the original setting...love that too. Yummy!

 

[Mara]

widget i am so glad you came clean with the PS gals....that re-set is too good of a secret to keep!!! can''t wait to see the finished product, it will be amazing! how much longer?

 

[widget]

Hey guys...I have a TEENSY update...

I heard back from Leon after my hysterical email questioning the use of these sidestones. I just got off the phone with him. He thinks they''re fine, certainly within the range of ''acceptable''. He did mention that if he had been putting the ring together from scratch, he probably would have chosen slightly bigger EC sides...but that he really didn''t think that the difference is worth the $$$ or trouble..

So...it''s onward and upward! He said that MAYBE it''ll be done by the middle of next week!!!!!!!

widget

PS: Does everyone know that MARA gets the credit (or blame?) for this? In Palo Alto she muttered almost to herself: "hmmm, I wonder how these would look in a Leon Mege..." ....and the rest is history!

 

[Kaleigh]

It''s going to be fabulous, can''t wait till you get it.

 

[Mara]

widget, i LOVE getting blamed for mind-planting beautiful new diamond projects!!! more! more! hehehe.

 

[mrssalvo]

YAY Widget..I''m so excited to see this project completed. I know it''s going to be beyond fabulous, it''s a Leon, how could it not be?