Leon Mege and the smallest prongs possible

[phillygrrrl]

Hello all!
I am a long-time lurker finally coming out of the closet with a question about claw prongs in general and Leon Mege''s in particular. I have learned so much from you all over my past year of lurking, and - if I can finally finish my dissertation - hope to particpate more in the future.

Last year I received a .71 Emerald cut as an engagement ring, and while I love the stone, I am less thrilled with my stock, 4 prong standard solitaire setting from Blue Nile. I''m not thrilled with how the band has a higher profile toward where the prongs are, but I''m mainly not pleased with how bulky the prongs feel to me. This is no fault to the setting, and all stock solitaire settings I''ve looked at have the same problem. However, I feel like the prongs really stand out too much, especially when compared to my modest sized stone. I also hate how the prongs seem to "pull" the corners of the stone up and out, like two people are pulling the edges of a sheet toward them.

My finace and I are discussing replacing the setting with one that features much more elegant and minimal prongs as a graduation present next year, and was hoping some of you more knowledgable ladies could offer me some helpful advice about how to do this, and whether it can be done at a reasonable price (under $1000, preferably) or if I''ll need to wait and save more money. I''m guessing that Leon Mege would be my best bet for this, but I have no clue what his solitaire settings go for and if he''d be uninterested in working with a smaller diamond like mine. Apart from Leon, are there any other jewelers that might be able to help me out here? And finally, will prongs seem big to me so long as I''m dealing with a smaller stone?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[lowphat]

I don''t think you can get a Leon setting for ~ $1000.

 

[kimmyintexas]

Hi there!

Leon works with any size diamond so just email him for a quote. I just got a quote this week for a simple solitare setting for a 2 ct round and it was $1700 which is completely reasonable for his quality of work. I promise you won''t be sorry if you go with him.

 

[neatfreak]

For under $1000 you'd be hard pressed to find a great custom designer to do that work-but some of the lower cost vendors might be able to come close to that. Worth a call around-but even a simple Leon will be probably minimum $1500.

But you can always get a stock setting and just find a talented benchman to pretty up the prongs for you. Mark at ERD has good benches and Brian Gavin Diamonds is also great with prongs.

A non-custom setting with a little prong re-working will be MUCH cheaper than $1000 for a simple solitaire. That's your best budget friendly bet for sure.

 

[oldminer]

If you are a actually a Philly, PA Girl, then give Arthur at A&K at 725 Sansom a call or a visit. His shop is right in the center of downtown''s Jeweler''s Row and he probably can make you what you want. A&K is a manufacturere who is open to the trade and the public. Also, if you want to shop a bit more, give Barksy and Kao a try, too. Barksy is almost directly opposite A&K and Kao is a small store on the same side as Barsky but a few doors closer to 8th St. I can''t fault the Internet for diamond deals, but in a city with so many good jewelers all competing you can find some really nice customized work at fairly reasonable costs, especially in these slow times.

 

[ElizabethRose]

I was quoted 1400 for a classic LM solitaire setting for a 1 ct round. The prices for that setting seem to depend on stone size, but its very easy to email for a quote. I went with a three stone LM instead, but the tiny prongs are my FAVORITE thing about my ring! They are practically invisible from the top, even from only a few inches away.

I would probably advise you to get the setting you are really going to love this time, even if you have to wait a little bit longer and save.