HW Pave Halo finished WOW! Facets beat Leon, Steve K...

[YaelMay]

Hi All -

I finally have pictures. Many of you have followed my initial research, selection, valuation and quote prices from Leon Mege, Steve K, Maytal, JBEG, and a newer contenders that was made known to me through a referal - Facets Collection (jeweler is P.J. Ralph) who is entering the custom jewelery market through referals (website is all cast work which I did not even consider in my ring).

My ring is in my truest and most critical opinion 95% of the Leon and Steve K quality and at approximately 65% of the cost that both Leon, Steve K quoted me and even lower than JPEG and Maytal - but all custom made. There was much hand holding, my 25 page powerpoint, hardcore project management skills and major fear that my investment would not yield my objective of a Harry Winston Round Brilliant Pave Halo setting with the craftsmanship of Leon Mege.

For those of you wishing to see MUCH DETAIL and the full situation and process from end-to-end:

Selection process:
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/help-designing-a-hw-halo-micro-pave-e-ring.159896/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/help-designing-a-hw-halo-micro-pave-e-ring.159896/[/URL]

Middle of it all - and some initial pictures and results (amazing!)
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/quotes-for-hw-pave-halo-e-ring-leon-v-steve-facets-jbeg.160030/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/quotes-for-hw-pave-halo-e-ring-leon-v-steve-facets-jbeg.160030/[/URL]

And now...drum roll.... THE FINAL SPARKLER!!! Pictures.

Specs to remind you:
1.41 carat, E color, S11 clarity, GIA Triple Excellent and H&A cut, round brilliant
Ring: 1.9 mm in shank, curved and paved stems, total pave: .72 carats, pave summary: VVS-VS D-E Ex-Ideal cut quality,
Detail of all aspects of proportion and ring are in "middle of it all" posting above

THe ring is amazing - I smile and melt just a little inside every time i drive and grind out work on the computer and eat food and feed the fish - it just isn't getting old (which must tell me its truly gorgeous and incredibly well crafted by my *SUPER* patient jeweler at Facets who put up with a lot (for not enough $$ in my opinion) but gave me a "Leon-esque" ring. Really - 95% of Leon for 60% of price? If I could made money like that on Wall Street and in equities - I would be a billionaire.

See for yourself and ask yourself: would you prefer a better stone, a bigger stone, a more perfect stone if you could save 40% on the setting and get the craftsmanship (95% ) that few in this jewelry market could offer?

 

[mrssalvo]

I'm so glad you are happy with your ring. It's looks beautiful from the pictures and I hope we get to see more. Congrats!

 

[Laila619]

You know I love your ring! I'm so glad that you are ecstatic about it!!

 

[Gypsy]

Can someone find the Victor Canerra thread that shows the steps he takes to make a handmade piece? There is an entire thread that shows all the pics and steps to a handmade ring. Yael, custom doesn't describe the process of fabrication that is undertaken. And there is nothing wrong with CAD and CAST, in fact given recent technology advances for some designs it is a superior method of fabrication in terms of the finished product.

Victor is a master at handmade work however and has graciously documented his process for us in a thread... which someone will find.

In contrast CAD and CAM also results in pieces that must be welded together frequently. Here is a thread that shows one of my pieces, which was a CAD and CAST project, that was obviously hand assembled and finished. [URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/got-cads-of-band-want-opinions.153285/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/got-cads-of-band-want-opinions.153285/[/URL]

Both are good methods. I don't have any stake in what method Facets uses, but for future browsers and researchers I would like to clarify the differences in the methods. And also state that there is nothing WRONG with CAD and CAST. I have pieces that are handmade, and others that are cast. Both are lovely in their own way.

 

[TristanC]

As mentioned in your other thread, I'm glad you are ecstatic about your ring.

Can you post some close up pictures of the pave work and the ring profile view as well? Just so others can really see the work. I think this is a new jeweller to many, so more pictures will help bring the work to light.

Was this ring hand made from start to finish as well?

 

[stargurl78]

WOW, your ring looks FANTASTIC!! I didn't even know Facets did this kind of work. I purchased my channel set wedding band from them and its beautiful but its just a stock ring from their site. I skimmed through some of your previous threads and I have to say, I'm glad that you are happy with your ring and got what you were looking for Its absolutely gorgeous!

I also have to agree with you that Facets customer service is excellent. I only dealt with Leah but she was always patient, friendly, and informative, even though I send her waaaayyyyy too many emails when I was trying to find a wedding band.

 

[Frenchcut]

Congratulations ! Please show us some hand shots so we can see what it looks like in "real life"

 

[frankiextah]

would love to see some profile shots !

 

[kelpie]

It's beautiful! The workmanship does look excellent.

 

[centralsquare]

beautiful...would love to see hand shots.....

 

[kelpie]

We do need handshots!

I don't understand the flack you've received for the choice of vendor and repeated questioning of their fabrication methods which you made clear from the beginning. I don't get the cult following some jewelers have here, if you love someone's work that's great but don't think that nothing else compares to their work because that's rarely the case. There are so many talented artisans in the world. It is a beautiful ring that's extremely well made. Does Leon manage to jam more diamonds in less metal? Yes. Is that worth paying 60% more and handing over complete design control to him and his crazy ego? For me it wouldn't be.

Enjoy your beautiful ring and take pride that you had a large role in its design.

 

[stargurl78]

We do need handshots!

I don't understand the flack you've received for the choice of vendor and repeated questioning of their fabrication methods which you made clear from the beginning. I don't get the cult following some jewelers have here, if you love someone's work that's great but don't think that nothing else compares to their work because that's rarely the case. There are so many talented artisans in the world. It is a beautiful ring that's extremely well made. Does Leon manage to jam more diamonds in less metal? Yes. Is that worth paying 60% more and handing over complete design control to him and his crazy ego? For me it wouldn't be.

Enjoy your beautiful ring and take pride that you had a large role in its design.

Well said Kelpie, I wasn't understanding this either. This ring is gorgeous and the OP is obviously very happy with her choice, which is all that matters...

 

[thelostcity]

Yael, I'm not usually into the look of halos, but WOW that is gorgeous!!! I'm glad you're so happy with it, and it's nice to get to see Facets' work, too - thanks for sharing!

Can someone find the Victor Canerra thread that shows the steps he takes to make a handmade piece? There is an entire thread that shows all the pics and steps to a handmade ring. Yael, custom doesn't describe the process of fabrication that is undertaken. And there is nothing wrong with CAD and CAST, in fact given recent technology advances for some designs it is a superior method of fabrication in terms of the finished product.

Was this the one?
[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/hand-crafting-my-victor-canera-ring-from-scratch.155293/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/hand-crafting-my-victor-canera-ring-from-scratch.155293/[/URL]

(I have no idea about the flak of which kelpie and stargurl spoke, so I really have no investment either way - but I support Gypsy's desire to provide complete information to future researchers/browsers)

 

[diamondseeker2006]

As I said on your other thread, I could not really pay $8000 for this setting to be made by Leon or SK, either. So for half that price, I think you did very, very well! It is beautiful!

 

[thelostcity]

As I said on your other thread, I could not really pay $8000 for this setting to be made by Leon or SK, either. So for half that price, I think you did very, very well! It is beautiful!

Putting the numbers out there makes this even more impressive! Wow!

 

[frankiextah]

As I said on your other thread, I could not really pay $8000 for this setting to be made by Leon or SK, either. So for half that price, I think you did very, very well! It is beautiful!

i'm honestly confused and very much shocked that OP was quoted such a high price for her ring as her ring style really is very similar to my halo ring. I have patronized both LM and SK and LM quoted me at $4950 for my mom's 2.62ct RB (late 2010), while SK quoted me bout $4000 for my 2.32ct RB (april 2011). I very recently (last week) helped a friend get a quote from Victor Canera and his price is $4000 for a 2ct+ center stone, also RB.