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Looking to upgrade my wife's ring - Leon Mege?

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joey_v

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Messages
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Has anyone here recently worked with Leon Mege? I am interested in the True Antique cuts. What's the consensus? Is there lack of fire and sparkle because of the high table and broad facets?
 
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I’ve never seen Leon’s true antique cut in person. Have you seen antique cushions in real life? Or have you just fallen in love with them in video? I think you would need to be a lover of antique cuts in general to start with. If you are looking for many write sparkles and shards of light you probably won’t prefer antique cuts, round or cushion. If you are considering them seriously and cannot find a real life video (not one made by him) you should go see them in person.

She would need to like broad flashes of light and fire. That’s the nature of antique cuts.
 
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I'd seriously use Victor Canera for that type ring, and he sells beautiful antique style cuts that are better cut, in my opinion.

https://www.victorcanera.com/

Another great source of antique style diamonds is August Vintage from Jonathan Weingarten and then use Steven Kirsch for the setting. The stone in my avatar picture is one of his August Vintage European Cuts, but he does cushions as well.

I prefer all of these diamonds and ringmakers. You can also ask about custom cutting if they don't have exactly what you want.
 
I have not yet seen an antique cushion in person but I think I understand the general idea, by looking at his videos the antique cushion has a high crown and appears more top heavy than the modern cushion and is also more oval.

I wonder if the stone is more “lifeless” in person given the cut.

I can’t find anyone local with these stones.

We are also considering oval which is more easily sourced locally especially since Whiteflash is not too far away.
 
Well, great cut ovals are very hard to find, other than these, also by August Vintage:

https://www.augustvintageinc.com/collections/opulence

Whiteflash would have to call in a couple of ovals for you to look at. So you'd have to arrange that and make an appointment to see them.

Yes, a poorly cut stone certainly can look more lifeless than one that is well cut. So that is why I would go with Canera or August Vintage when it comes to antique cushions.
 
joey_v said:
I have not yet seen an antique cushion in person but I think I understand the general idea, by looking at his videos the antique cushion has a high crown and appears more top heavy than the modern cushion and is also more oval.

I wonder if the stone is more “lifeless” in person given the cut.

I can’t find anyone local with these stones.

We are also considering oval which is more easily sourced locally especially since Whiteflash is not too far away.
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For old cut lovers, we find old cuts MORE lively, not less. Have you even videos of August vintage cushions?

Check out this video of August Vintage Cushions

Victor Canera cuts similar Canera Antique Cushions. I have seen both in real life and they are gorgeous and fiery and will blind you. Liveliness is not a problem.
 
joey_v said:
I have not yet seen an antique cushion in person but I think I understand the general idea, by looking at his videos the antique cushion has a high crown and appears more top heavy than the modern cushion and is also more oval.

I wonder if the stone is more “lifeless” in person given the cut.

I can’t find anyone local with these stones.
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Old cuts are anything but lifeless - the high crown and broad facets generally is associated with lots of fire and big flashes of white and coloured light. They are a very different look to a modern round brilliant which has smaller facets and generally favours a faster sparkle and scintillation.
There are many videos online that will show you the beauty of a well cut antique stone.
 
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Let me clarify what I meant. The stones you were originally asking about are not as well cut as the ones we have told you about. So yes, you will get better light return from Canera or August Vintage cushions, and those will beat out most modern cushions, as well.
 
Ah ok I think I understand now. I think I need to see one for myself.

Do antique cushion cuts face up SMALLER than comparable size modern cushions? It seems to me that a modern cushion looks substantially smaller than comparable weight rounds...

If oval, are there any special considerations that I would need in terms of cut?

My knowledge is based on her first e-ring which was a WF ACA Rd, however these cuts are a different beast for me.
 
I looked at caneras site.

Not that much selection unfortunately...
 
Does SHE want an antique (style) cushion or modern oval? Both are WAY different than an ACA ( which you could upgrade directly with WF for full purchase price against new).
 
I think she wants something a little different than a round. I think it has to do with round being maybe a little flashy at a larger size while the oval and the cushion seem more regal at larger sizes.
 
A true antique, methinks - WWW

Art of Platinum does perfect work... There used to be more from them here in the past.
 
I’m looking at that link and it seems like it faces small
 
@joey_v There are no measurements given, so I cannot tell. The crown & pavilion angles - much that can be seen of them, do not seem steep, so I am not expecting anything too uncommon about spread. The depth% may be a lttle less than expected because of the open culet... (nb. the emerald is not good reference for size - they are always larger for the same weight; & criteria for cut proportions are seriously different)

The only way to find out is asking. The house cuts new diamonds in old school models, so there might be interesting options around. Large diamonds do not seem commonly available, but the few that happen are exceptional, IHMO.

2c
 
What is your budget and size preference? Color and clarity preferences? Did you look up August vintage cushion videos on YouTube?
 
Are you open to antique stones or do you prefer newly cut that have that style? If you are open to antique, I'd point you to Old World Diamonds.

A modern oval versus an antique/antique style cushion is a very different look- if you can see some ovals and compare to an antique style, that is probably a good starting point. If you want an oval, a coworker just bought an August Vintage oval and was very happy with it.
 

Vs


I might not be able to hit that exact size, but I’m looking at 4ct+.
 
I would reach out to Jonathan (@Rhino) at August Vintage if you like ovals or newly cut antique stones.

What does your wife want in terms of shape? What is her current ring? Is she happy or not with that? Does she want a 4+ carat stone?
 
The ring setting will likely be the first one with the oval.

4ct I think is a good upgrade.

She has a 1.5 WF ACA rd on a Tacori.
 
joey_v said:
The ring setting will likely be the first one with the oval.

4ct I think is a good upgrade.

She has a 1.5 WF ACA rd on a Tacori.
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Has she expressed a desire for something not round?
 
Yes, she mentioned maybe not round this time because she feels a rd above 3 is too flashy.
 
joey_v said:
Yes, she mentioned maybe not round this time because she feels a rd above 3 is too flashy.
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Flashy in what way? Like the sparkle factor of her ACA? Or just size? Comparatively speaking a 4ct oval will be huge compared to even a 3ct round. I pulled the dimension of a 3ct ACA compared to a 4ct oval (not AV opulence, but just a plain one off James Allen). Ovals are all over the place with spread but this just gives you an idea....

Screen Shot 2018-12-02 at 4.07.07 PM.png
 
I think we feel a 4ct round looks excessive while a 4ct oval or antique cushionlooks a little more regal.

There’s a reason why you don’t see 8ct rounds while you see 8-12ct ovals or cushions or emerald cuts.
 
joey_v said:
I think we feel a 4ct round looks excessive while a 4ct oval or antique cushionlooks a little more regal.

There’s a reason why you don’t see 8ct rounds while you see 8-12ct ovals or cushions or emerald cuts.
Click to expand...


Agreed :) A currently-running thread relevant to this point: https://www.pricescope.com/communit...a-mrb-center-stone.245326/page-2#post-4457980

General consensus here seems to be that one of the main reason big rounds look so much "flashier" than fancy cuts is that they sit so high off the finger when you get into the upper carat sizes.

As to your question about the face up size of cushions vs. rounds, a cushion diamond will almost always face up smaller than a same weight round. If you are looking at the optimized antique cushions like VC or AVC, I would argue that the "antique" cushions would actually face up larger than comparable modern cushions because of their edge to edge brightness.

Ovals, on the other hand, will consistently face up larger than rounds (at least visually, due to the greater length). BUT they are also less visually imposing in big sizes, as you have previously mentioned.

I would definitely definitely reach out to Jonathan if you are looking to decide between an antique cushion or modern oval, as he provides the cream of the crop for both! No one else has bright ovals like the AV Opulence on the market right now. I'm he sure will be more than happy to make some side by side comparison videos for you to help you decide. =)2

Downside with August Vintage is no upgrade policy though sad :(( (But then again, are you really going to want to upgrade beyond 4cts?)

Either way, you have a very lucky lady!
 
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