Ellen
Super_Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2006
- Messages
- 24,433
In reading the various posts about Leon, before I ever even had my Aqua recut, I came to the conclusion Leon was somewhat rude and tempermental. Coupled with the fact that I wanted to design my own ring, and knew I wanted a say in the process, I sadly dismissed him as first contender to do my ring.
I then ended up going with Quest, who unfortunately couldn't produce what I was after, though they said they could. The stone came back home unset, for those that don't know the story. I will do a review on Quest as well in the future, I realize I'm doing these out of order. But I've just had too much going on in my life, to deal with what that will entail. And I felt there were probably many more curious to hear this one anyway. To be honest, I've put it off as well, and by the end you'll understand why.
Taking what I had learned from the custom route, being as prepared as anyone possibly could have been, and having gone with a company that never had a bad review, and who seemed to turn out great pieces, I decided if I couldn't get it right there, maybe it was best to shelve that idea, and go with something already made moreless. I just didn't have it in me to go that way again with my design, wiith the possibility it would not go well again. So that's when I began to entertain the thought of Leon doing it again. Since Quest had had the stone, I had now read some reviews where he wasn't rude at all, or tempermental, and everything had gone well. I then surmised that possibly some people who'd had a less than pleasant experience might just be someone who couldn't be pleased. I mean, how was it that he could seemingly be great with one person and not the next? So, that, coupled with the fact that all I wanted was a simple shank with 4 prongs, I thought it would be entirely possible to work with him.
The first email correspondance went quite well, he was very pleasant and answered almost immediately. I threw out a design based on a couple of his settings, but he didn't feel that was the way to go. He made a suggestion of going basically with his simple, classic solitaire, but said he'd need to see the stone anyway before deciding. I told him to do whatever he felt was best for the stone. I basically gave him carte blanche, though I did tell him I did not feel ultra thin shanks looked good on my finger. So he noted "thicker shank" on my work order. The stone arrived 4/8 and I was quoted 6 weeks to finish.
By the time a week had passed, there was one thing bugging me a bit, the width of the shank. I thought, what if he makes it too wide? (I realized that most likely wouldn't happen) What was thicker to him? And I thought about how silly I'd feel if I just left this one important detail (to me) up to him, and then was unhappy. Upon the advice of confidants to just contact him and let him know, I did. It was 4/17, I doubted the ring had even been started. I wrote a very short, polite note, and let him know I was wondering what thicker was to him, and up to what mm was fine with me, that was it.
The note I received back said, the ring was already being set, so whatever width we end up with, I'll have to like (his exact words). He also asked me not to micro-manage this, he knew what he was doing. He was very happy with the ring, and it would not be too wide. That note made me realize that all the rude comments he'd made to other people may have very well been unjustified, they certainly were with me. I've come to the conclusion that while there is no doubt the man can turn out stunning settings, he's a crap shoot in the PR department. So, there was nothing to do but wait.
The ring was sent out 5/8 (early by 2 weeks), a Friday. I opened the box and fell in love. I then did what any PS'r would do, I went to loupe the ring. That's when my heart sank. There were scratches all over the top of the stone. So many I did not want to try and count. There were also what looked like a couple small chips. I was sick, and mad. I knew what this stone looked like before I sent it. Obviously it came from Richard Homer in pristine condition. I had used the utmost care in handling it. And when it came back from Quest, I had thoroughly louped it, and even had it under a microsope at my jewelers. There was not one scratch, not one chip, not one thing wrong with it. (I realize this part will come as a surprise to some of my confidants, as I did not tell you. Frankly, I was so tired of the rings saga, I knew you all had to be, so I just kept it to myself and a few others)
I didn't contact him that day, I wanted to try and get pictures of what I was seeing, so he could see. It was very difficult to capture the scratches/possible chips. You cannot see them with the naked eye, I could barely get them in endless macro shots, and you can't even see them with the loupe until you get it in the right light at the right angle. Over the weekend, I did manage to get a pic of a big scratch, and what look like chips. I contacted him on Monday, and told him the ring was gorgeous and I had expected no less from him. But that I had not expected all the scratches and possible chips. The pictures were was included. I told him I would wait to hear from him.
His response came fairly quickly, and he was very nice. He was sorry that I was upset. He went on to explain that after the ring was finished, they had taken the high resolution pic of it (which I had not yet received at this point), and that there was no scratch showing in it.That if it was there, it would show. He went on to say that what I was calling possible chips, looked like inclusions to him. He then said that they examine a stone before setting, and that none of this would have raised a red flag with them. (it never occurred to me to point out/agree on what was or was not wong with my stone when it arrived. were I to ever do this again, a lesson learned) There was no way I could prove that they were wrong, that there was nothing wrong with my stone when it arrived.
He then went on to explain how Aqua is soft, and scratches and nicks were inevitable with handling shortly after polishing. (while I'm not saying that can't happen, I managed to handle it/photograph it a bunch, not to mention Quest actually getting it in a setting, and then unsetting, without putting one thing on it) And he disagreed about the perfect shape it was in when he got it, but said benchwork would add scratches and nicks, but not as significant as the one I had sent a pic of. To him, the scratch was not there. But all this was inevitable durring setting, and I should not be upset.
He said his assistant would send the pro pic shortly. It arrived within a few minutes.
Lo and behold, the pro pic showed the possible nicks much better than my pic had. I emailed him back pointing this out. He ended up calling me. To try and shorten this, he still felt what was showing were inclusions, and suggested I try two things. One was having a jeweler look at it, and the other was to oil the stone, putting it under a warm lamp for a bit, and see what happened. If they were scratches they would dissappear, if they were inclusions they would not. If they turned out to be scratches, he offered to have the stone repolished free of charge. However, he also assured me it would come back with NEW scratches. Because that happens during setting.
Well I tried the oil thing, and it didn't work, everything was still there. But these aren't inclusions, I know what this stone looked like. And in all my inspections and photographing, I'd never seen one thing. I emailed RH to ask him if he ever saw or remembered my stone having any inclusions. A few days went by with no response. So I contacted another professional who is familiar with both Leon and Richard's work. Interestingly, they said work like this would never come from Leon. An amateur yes, Leon no. They would have to see the stone in person to say what the scratches came from for sure (I felt some looked like a sort of tool mark). In closing, they said looking at the long picture, Aquas are going to get scratched, I could look at it as mine having a little head start, if they weren't eye visable. If they were, they let me know RH could polish it without unsetting the stone.
After a week without hearing from Richard, I emailed him again. This time he answered back, he'd been traveling. Long story short, while he didn't remember my stone having any inclusions, he'd cut many stones since then, so he couldn't say for sure. His take on the situation seemed, possibly a bit politically correct, and I understand why it would. He assured me Leon would take care of things. And, he echoed the sentiment that things are going to happen to soft stones. If it wasn't eye visable, and didn't bother me too much, look at it as a head start on what is to be in the future.
At this point I got back with Leon, and told him what had been said about soft stones, stuff happens, and that I was just going to accept that my stone was now what it was. That I hadn't had a jeweler look at it, as the person I really wanted to see it was an hour away. If they turned out to be inclusions, there would be nothing to do, and if they turned out to be scratches, I wasn't willing to send this stone off again. It had been in the mail 3 times now, and it's an heirloom. Normally I don't fret with mailing things, but this was different, and I was extremely anxious each time it had been sent off. It wasn't worth it, for something I can't see normally anyway. And besides, why would I want to go through all that just to have it scratched up again?
In closing with Leon, I very nicely pointed out how rude he had been with me, and how ridiculous it was to accuse me of micro-managing with one enquiry about my ring. I said I didn't understand why he felt it was ok to speak to a customer in such a manner. That it was my ring, that I was paying for. I said I knew he'd lost business because of other remarks he'd made, and that while that may not bother him, it sure would me. But then if I were a jeweler, I would never dream of speaking to a customer in such a way to begin with. I closed with thanking him again, and telling him he undoubtedly did well in design.....
His response surprised me to a certain extent. He apologized for being rude, and said he would not offer up excuses, such as English is his second language and he doesn't know what he's saying. That the reason for his abrasiveness is because he's first and foremost a craftsman, and used to work mostly with trade customers who would not mind him saying stuff like that. That he realized private customers were different and needed to be handled differently. (while this was nice, was it not an excuse also? did he forget who he was talking to?) As for lost business, he made it quite clear he picks and chooses his customers as he is in high demand. He is not worried. But he did worry that he would make someone feel this way. That was the end, and I thanked him for his apology.
I will enclose some pics to show what I have rambled on about. While I'm sorry the stone got so scratched up (and I can't even begin to capture them all), I do realize I will most likely put something on the stone while wearing it. I just would have liked to have been the one to do it.
First two pics are of the long scratch I sent him. I wonder, if it were an inclusion, could I get it in two different angled pics? Who knows. The second pic I adjusted the contrast so it would show up better, as it wasn't as pronounced as the first pic.
The next are the pro pic that shows what look like possible nicks. And the rest are some of the other scratches I managed to capture. Most of these were taken under a loupe. Which I might add I found really difficult, so major kudos to those that have gotten good ones.
I then ended up going with Quest, who unfortunately couldn't produce what I was after, though they said they could. The stone came back home unset, for those that don't know the story. I will do a review on Quest as well in the future, I realize I'm doing these out of order. But I've just had too much going on in my life, to deal with what that will entail. And I felt there were probably many more curious to hear this one anyway. To be honest, I've put it off as well, and by the end you'll understand why.
Taking what I had learned from the custom route, being as prepared as anyone possibly could have been, and having gone with a company that never had a bad review, and who seemed to turn out great pieces, I decided if I couldn't get it right there, maybe it was best to shelve that idea, and go with something already made moreless. I just didn't have it in me to go that way again with my design, wiith the possibility it would not go well again. So that's when I began to entertain the thought of Leon doing it again. Since Quest had had the stone, I had now read some reviews where he wasn't rude at all, or tempermental, and everything had gone well. I then surmised that possibly some people who'd had a less than pleasant experience might just be someone who couldn't be pleased. I mean, how was it that he could seemingly be great with one person and not the next? So, that, coupled with the fact that all I wanted was a simple shank with 4 prongs, I thought it would be entirely possible to work with him.
The first email correspondance went quite well, he was very pleasant and answered almost immediately. I threw out a design based on a couple of his settings, but he didn't feel that was the way to go. He made a suggestion of going basically with his simple, classic solitaire, but said he'd need to see the stone anyway before deciding. I told him to do whatever he felt was best for the stone. I basically gave him carte blanche, though I did tell him I did not feel ultra thin shanks looked good on my finger. So he noted "thicker shank" on my work order. The stone arrived 4/8 and I was quoted 6 weeks to finish.
By the time a week had passed, there was one thing bugging me a bit, the width of the shank. I thought, what if he makes it too wide? (I realized that most likely wouldn't happen) What was thicker to him? And I thought about how silly I'd feel if I just left this one important detail (to me) up to him, and then was unhappy. Upon the advice of confidants to just contact him and let him know, I did. It was 4/17, I doubted the ring had even been started. I wrote a very short, polite note, and let him know I was wondering what thicker was to him, and up to what mm was fine with me, that was it.
The note I received back said, the ring was already being set, so whatever width we end up with, I'll have to like (his exact words). He also asked me not to micro-manage this, he knew what he was doing. He was very happy with the ring, and it would not be too wide. That note made me realize that all the rude comments he'd made to other people may have very well been unjustified, they certainly were with me. I've come to the conclusion that while there is no doubt the man can turn out stunning settings, he's a crap shoot in the PR department. So, there was nothing to do but wait.
The ring was sent out 5/8 (early by 2 weeks), a Friday. I opened the box and fell in love. I then did what any PS'r would do, I went to loupe the ring. That's when my heart sank. There were scratches all over the top of the stone. So many I did not want to try and count. There were also what looked like a couple small chips. I was sick, and mad. I knew what this stone looked like before I sent it. Obviously it came from Richard Homer in pristine condition. I had used the utmost care in handling it. And when it came back from Quest, I had thoroughly louped it, and even had it under a microsope at my jewelers. There was not one scratch, not one chip, not one thing wrong with it. (I realize this part will come as a surprise to some of my confidants, as I did not tell you. Frankly, I was so tired of the rings saga, I knew you all had to be, so I just kept it to myself and a few others)
I didn't contact him that day, I wanted to try and get pictures of what I was seeing, so he could see. It was very difficult to capture the scratches/possible chips. You cannot see them with the naked eye, I could barely get them in endless macro shots, and you can't even see them with the loupe until you get it in the right light at the right angle. Over the weekend, I did manage to get a pic of a big scratch, and what look like chips. I contacted him on Monday, and told him the ring was gorgeous and I had expected no less from him. But that I had not expected all the scratches and possible chips. The pictures were was included. I told him I would wait to hear from him.
His response came fairly quickly, and he was very nice. He was sorry that I was upset. He went on to explain that after the ring was finished, they had taken the high resolution pic of it (which I had not yet received at this point), and that there was no scratch showing in it.That if it was there, it would show. He went on to say that what I was calling possible chips, looked like inclusions to him. He then said that they examine a stone before setting, and that none of this would have raised a red flag with them. (it never occurred to me to point out/agree on what was or was not wong with my stone when it arrived. were I to ever do this again, a lesson learned) There was no way I could prove that they were wrong, that there was nothing wrong with my stone when it arrived.
He then went on to explain how Aqua is soft, and scratches and nicks were inevitable with handling shortly after polishing. (while I'm not saying that can't happen, I managed to handle it/photograph it a bunch, not to mention Quest actually getting it in a setting, and then unsetting, without putting one thing on it) And he disagreed about the perfect shape it was in when he got it, but said benchwork would add scratches and nicks, but not as significant as the one I had sent a pic of. To him, the scratch was not there. But all this was inevitable durring setting, and I should not be upset.
Lo and behold, the pro pic showed the possible nicks much better than my pic had. I emailed him back pointing this out. He ended up calling me. To try and shorten this, he still felt what was showing were inclusions, and suggested I try two things. One was having a jeweler look at it, and the other was to oil the stone, putting it under a warm lamp for a bit, and see what happened. If they were scratches they would dissappear, if they were inclusions they would not. If they turned out to be scratches, he offered to have the stone repolished free of charge. However, he also assured me it would come back with NEW scratches. Because that happens during setting.
Well I tried the oil thing, and it didn't work, everything was still there. But these aren't inclusions, I know what this stone looked like. And in all my inspections and photographing, I'd never seen one thing. I emailed RH to ask him if he ever saw or remembered my stone having any inclusions. A few days went by with no response. So I contacted another professional who is familiar with both Leon and Richard's work. Interestingly, they said work like this would never come from Leon. An amateur yes, Leon no. They would have to see the stone in person to say what the scratches came from for sure (I felt some looked like a sort of tool mark). In closing, they said looking at the long picture, Aquas are going to get scratched, I could look at it as mine having a little head start, if they weren't eye visable. If they were, they let me know RH could polish it without unsetting the stone.
After a week without hearing from Richard, I emailed him again. This time he answered back, he'd been traveling. Long story short, while he didn't remember my stone having any inclusions, he'd cut many stones since then, so he couldn't say for sure. His take on the situation seemed, possibly a bit politically correct, and I understand why it would. He assured me Leon would take care of things. And, he echoed the sentiment that things are going to happen to soft stones. If it wasn't eye visable, and didn't bother me too much, look at it as a head start on what is to be in the future.
At this point I got back with Leon, and told him what had been said about soft stones, stuff happens, and that I was just going to accept that my stone was now what it was. That I hadn't had a jeweler look at it, as the person I really wanted to see it was an hour away. If they turned out to be inclusions, there would be nothing to do, and if they turned out to be scratches, I wasn't willing to send this stone off again. It had been in the mail 3 times now, and it's an heirloom. Normally I don't fret with mailing things, but this was different, and I was extremely anxious each time it had been sent off. It wasn't worth it, for something I can't see normally anyway. And besides, why would I want to go through all that just to have it scratched up again?
In closing with Leon, I very nicely pointed out how rude he had been with me, and how ridiculous it was to accuse me of micro-managing with one enquiry about my ring. I said I didn't understand why he felt it was ok to speak to a customer in such a manner. That it was my ring, that I was paying for. I said I knew he'd lost business because of other remarks he'd made, and that while that may not bother him, it sure would me. But then if I were a jeweler, I would never dream of speaking to a customer in such a way to begin with. I closed with thanking him again, and telling him he undoubtedly did well in design.....
His response surprised me to a certain extent. He apologized for being rude, and said he would not offer up excuses, such as English is his second language and he doesn't know what he's saying. That the reason for his abrasiveness is because he's first and foremost a craftsman, and used to work mostly with trade customers who would not mind him saying stuff like that. That he realized private customers were different and needed to be handled differently. (while this was nice, was it not an excuse also? did he forget who he was talking to?) As for lost business, he made it quite clear he picks and chooses his customers as he is in high demand. He is not worried. But he did worry that he would make someone feel this way. That was the end, and I thanked him for his apology.
I will enclose some pics to show what I have rambled on about. While I'm sorry the stone got so scratched up (and I can't even begin to capture them all), I do realize I will most likely put something on the stone while wearing it. I just would have liked to have been the one to do it.
First two pics are of the long scratch I sent him. I wonder, if it were an inclusion, could I get it in two different angled pics? Who knows. The second pic I adjusted the contrast so it would show up better, as it wasn't as pronounced as the first pic.
The next are the pro pic that shows what look like possible nicks. And the rest are some of the other scratches I managed to capture. Most of these were taken under a loupe. Which I might add I found really difficult, so major kudos to those that have gotten good ones.
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