Micro Pave Ring - Which to get?

[Haven]

alloamie--Oooh, please post pictures of your signed pieces bands when you get them! Which did you get? I''m so excited for you, Facets bands look BEAUTIFUL. If you do a search here you should find some good handshots.

As for Leon, he really does not mark up his jewelry all that much. We ended up using our beloved local jeweler to make my engagement ring, but my DH got a few quotes from Leon before we made our final decision and his prices were pretty in line with other fine jewelers for a custom ring. AND, his pave pieces are certainly finer than any I have ever seen. Had I ended up choosing a pave engagement ring, it would have been a Leon, no question.

Beau--I''m sure you weren''t trying to offend when you made that "real" people comment, although it did come off that way. I can assure you that I am quite real, and I''m certain that the car I drive and the clothes I buy have little to do with just how real a person I am. But then again, I don''t often notice what brands or labels other people are wearing or driving, so maybe it''s just that those things mean less to me than they do to people who would notice such things and classify people accordingly.
My guess is that it''s all relative--a Leon may seem like a luxury for "unreal" people to you, but ANY jewelry at all would seem like a luxury for "unreal" people to my impoverished students. They would probably say that anyone on a jewelry forum is not a "real" person, you included. I suppose what I''m trying to say is: it''s all relative.

 

[alloamie]

I ordered the .62ctw shared-prong round brilliant band. I really want a thin band - this one is supposed to be around 1.8mm.
My ER & WB are 2mm high, so if the Facets ring is as stated (1.9mm high), it'll be a keeper. I don't want the eternity band to stick-out further than my other rings.

I was very pleasantly surprised with Leon's price for the pave band and think his prices are VERY reasonable. I was actually thinking the band would be much more after looking on other sites and comparing different vendors. I was sure his quote would be super high b/c of the quality & gorgeous creations i've seen on PS and I was willing to shell out the $$ for his ring. I almost didn't even request a quote from him since I thought it would be waaay out of my budget.
Maybe further down the road when i get an upgrade on my ER, I'll have him put something together for me!

But I figure I'll try out the shared-prong and return if necessary. I decided that I was getting more "bang for my buck" with the higher ctw and bling factor of the Facets band over the LM.
I'll post pics when I get it - should be around the 1st or 2nd week of December.

 

[Haven]

I can''t wait to see your ring, alloamie, it sounds divine!

I have a shared-prong eternity wedding band, and I wear it with my engagement ring, which is a cushion set in a shared-prong eternity band, too. My wedding band is half a size larger than my e-ring, and the stones are a touch bigger, so the wedding band does stick out a bit more than my e-ring. I thought it might bother me, but I really love it.

I''ll be checking back for those pictures!

 

[ficklefaye]

Date: 11/19/2008 11:12:52 PM
Author: alloamie
Thanks for all of the responses!

I ditched the micro-pave route and ordered a shared-prong eternity band from Signed Pieces. I''m anxiously waiting for it!

I was hesitant to make such a large purchase on eBay and would have LOVED to have the LM ring, but was reluctant since there are no returns.

Hopefully the facets band will quench my desire for an eternity band so i can stop obsessing! haha

alloamie, i hope enjoy your new band!

i apologize if i have caused any problems in this thread. by no means am i encouraging the purchase of high end items on ebay as i too have had a bad ebay experience. i was merely appreciative of beau13''s post overall and not just regarding the Leon Mege ring.

believe me, i wouldn''t say no to a brand name if it was given to me, but since i am making this purchase myself, i need to buy what i can afford. i wanted a ritani, but instead i am having a ritani-esque setting made downtown. it is less than $1000 the price in platinum. so altho it isn''t a brand name, i will definitely enjoy it and the money saved.

 

[Maisie]

Date: 11/23/2008 1:16:01 PM
Author: ficklefaye

Date: 11/19/2008 11:12:52 PM
Author: alloamie
Thanks for all of the responses!

I ditched the micro-pave route and ordered a shared-prong eternity band from Signed Pieces. I''m anxiously waiting for it!

I was hesitant to make such a large purchase on eBay and would have LOVED to have the LM ring, but was reluctant since there are no returns.

Hopefully the facets band will quench my desire for an eternity band so i can stop obsessing! haha

alloamie, i hope enjoy your new band!

i apologize if i have caused any problems in this thread. by no means am i encouraging the purchase of high end items on ebay as i too have had a bad ebay experience. i was merely appreciative of beau13''s post overall and not just regarding the Leon Mege ring.

believe me, i wouldn''t say no to a brand name if it was given to me, but since i am making this purchase myself, i need to buy what i can afford. i wanted a ritani, but instead i am having a ritani-esque setting made downtown. it is less than $1000 the price in platinum. so altho it isn''t a brand name, i will definitely enjoy it and the money saved.

I don''t have a problem with anyone paying less for a setting. I''m all for getting value for money. If I had to make a choice between an ebay seller and Leon Mege I would definitely pick Leon. He is amazing at what he does and his work is beautiful.

I just didn''t like the ''real person'' comment. I''m not sure what that means. I thought we were all real people.

 

[Harriet]

Date: 11/23/2008 1:16:01 PM
Author: ficklefaye
alloamie, i hope enjoy your new band!

i apologize if i have caused any problems in this thread. by no means am i encouraging the purchase of high end items on ebay as i too have had a bad ebay experience. i was merely appreciative of beau13''s post overall and not just regarding the Leon Mege ring.

believe me, i wouldn''t say no to a brand name if it was given to me, but since i am making this purchase myself, i need to buy what i can afford. i wanted a ritani, but instead i am having a ritani-esque setting made downtown. it is less than $1000 the price in platinum. so altho it isn''t a brand name, i will definitely enjoy it and the money saved.

Hi and welcome! No worries. You did not cause any problem whatsoever.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I am looking forward to seeing your new ring! SP has very nice quality rings!

I just wanted to say that I am usually hesitant to pay for a brand name when the name is the thing driving up the price. For example, I have bought a couple of Roberto Coin items on ebay because I won''t pay the mark-up for his jewelry, even though it is nice quality (and there don''t seem to be many RC fakes out there). I would cautiously consider buying certain Tiffany items there, too, but SP is a really safe place to buy designer names at a discount.

As far as Leon and Maytal go, they are NOT big "name brands" by any stretch of the imagination! I had to sort of smile at that suggestion! They have exquisite workmanship and make beautiful handmade jewelry as opposed to less expensive cast jewelry. But they are certainly not the kind of designers where you''re paying a big mark-up for the brand name. Reserve that label for Tiffany, Cartier, VC&A, Bulgari, and so on! It is comparing apples and oranges to compare a ring from Maytal and Leon to most jewelry on ebay other than the reselling of designer pieces which can be an excellent value (Pearlman''s and Signed Pieces sell on there, for example). There is a market for all levels of quality just as there is a market for Zales, Jared''s, and Tiffany. We all have different preferences on price and level of quality. I just wanted to comment because from my own shopping experience, I found quotes from Leon and Maytal to be much less than those of Tiffany, but the quality is handmade and equivalent.

 

[Harriet]

That''s exactly what I was trying to say. Thanks!