Mothra by Leon Mege

[luvmysparklies]

Shockingly gorgeous! I am a butterfly fanatic and this piece of art and creativity is beyond measure! What a way to conclude a wild ride! Congratulations!

 

[AntiqueSparkle]

Truly stunned. Any chance you’re adopting??

So glad that you shared this beautiful piece of art with us.

 

[Sprinkles&Stones]

I am:
Crying screaming throwing up gasping for breath all at the same time!!!

I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.
This is a masterpiece. A piece of art. I would be afraid to touch it!
I actually love the newer version better, it’s just superb.

Big big congratulations to you! I wish we could pin this thread at the top of SMTB forever!

 

[diamondyes]

I am:
Crying screaming throwing up gasping for breath all at the same time!!!

I have never seen anything like this in my entire life.
This is a masterpiece. A piece of art. I would be afraid to touch it!
I actually love the newer version better, it’s just superb.

Big big congratulations to you! I wish we could pin this thread at the top of SMTB forever!

I gasped several times also.

This piece truly takes one’s breath away. It is so next level! JOTW doesn’t cut it- it’s more like JOAT (jewel of all time).

Your personal museum is coming along quite nicely, Yssie!!

 

[diamondyes]

I also now really, really want a black jade bangle with a ladybug on it lol.

 

[yennyfire]

I am gobsmacked! Speechless. In awe. Only you could pull this off! Wow. When you open your own jewelry museum, I will be the first to buy a ticket!!

 

[Diamond Girl 21]

What a glorious piece of art!!! it is STUNNING!!!

 

[diamondyes]

I am gobsmacked! Speechless. In awe. Only you could pull this off! Wow. When you open your own jewelry museum, I will be the first to buy a ticket!!

Oh damn, I’ll be right behind you

 

[diamondyes]

PS Yssie- I don’t recall seeing these “an opal bangle, a Buccellati bracelet” - so feel free to show them off if you so desire!

 

[diamondyes]

Ok, well I’m very quickly becoming obsessed with this wearable work of art. I never in a million years would’ve considered that things could be added ON to Jade! How does this work? Do they drill the Jade? Simply fascinating.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

This is a unique, playful and graceful piece of ART.

I adore that you decided to go beyond just buying a piece of jewelry, and instead commissioned a master craftsman to bring to life a concept. And that concept was one that came from both of you, and evolved and grew and became ART. Bravo!

I hope you revel in its magic -- it truly is a magical piece.

 

[RunningwithScissors]

ps: I like the 2.0 version best. Perhaps it was meant to be that the first one broke? It was like the universe was saying "almost perfect...just tweak it a tiny bit please..."

 

[diamondyes]

ps: I like the 2.0 version best. Perhaps it was meant to be that the first one broke? It was like the universe was saying "almost perfect...just tweak it a tiny bit please..."

Also apparently when jade breaks, it’s because it was protecting the wearer??

 

[DorotheaBrooke]

WOW!

 

[Patty]

Holy Moly…what an amazing piece of art!

 

[Vera W]

@yssie Wow, what an outstanding, masterful piece!! Definitely one for all to praise, along with an adventurous story to share as well. Gorgeous!!

 

[Petalouda]

Yssie, I am in awe of this gorgeous masterpiece and the process behind it. I admire your vision, attention to detail, non-comprising standards and most of all, your patience. Thank you for sharing this piece with us. Mothra is an amazing work of art and looks right at home on your wrist. Enjoy I’m good health!

 

[yssie]

OMG. Wow.

THANK YOU so much!! So many kind and supportive responses ❤️

I sort of signed off this thread for a bit, needed a brain break after after taking and sorting all the photos and writing it all up But I’ve read every post and I’m going to start responding to everyone properly Please bear with me if it takes a few days!

Y’all are so so so sweet. Thank you!!

 

[yssie]

@BrownGinger

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@Ally T Thank you so very much

I couldn’t do this again. I’ve said it before and it’s totally true. The mental effort of staying engaged with a single work in progress for years… Spoilt as it probably sounds, even just reminding myself to stay excited about one project for that long!! It’s not that I was ever in a rush - frankly I was a very large part of the reason it took nearly four years, I took my sweet time making decisions and Leon was the one hitting “go” once decisions were made!


But as I was going through those emails to write this up for this thread I was really blown away by the birds-eye view of just how many details we talked over. Literally hundreds of emails. If you include texts - thousands. I cut the vast majority of the story out here, but a comprehensive retelling would bore newcomers to tears and would probably traumatize the people who had to live with me first time through

The knowledge that this piece is completely irreplaceable, even to my own dang self, does make it all more the special though!! I'm so predictable

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@Rfisher Thank you!! I always walk into Leon’s office with iron grip on my wallet… I’d say maybe a quarter of my visits I walk out either having bought something unanticipated or having asked about buying something unanticipated

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Thank you so much @Bron357. ❤️

I rewrote that blurb so many times. My first version was a full on rant and I just kept dialing it back. Honestly what bothered me wasn’t even that it broke, I was super sad but accidents happen in the best of circumstances, I know that… It’s how they handled the situation they created. Completely mind-bogglingly unprofessional. But I won’t vent here because I don’t want this thread to become a liability should Leon decide to pursue legal action.

I’m just so grateful that they didn’t massacre the flower and moth. And Leon, how can anyone not respect a vendor who values his customer’s experience over his own monetary loss… Especially a loss that comes in this fashion… I have so much respect for Leon’s integrity.

Your description of the remake is beautiful, thank you for that And to give credit where credit is due, nearly every single thing that IMO makes the remake #better is something Leon had originally suggested but that I’d overruled! The larger sized ladybugs, the all-black jade, the slightly skinnier cuff. I’ll take credit for the single-cut melee in the wing interiors and the pave at the base of the flower though

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@lovedogs OMG yes - I hope its owner has some idea of how many people admire it!!

I was almost scared to ask him if it had been a custom design, because… I wouldn’t have felt right asking him to remake something so unique. So relieved when he said it was a stock piece he’d sold!!

Thank you!! And you bet I totally know where to find you if homeless SoC come my way

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@canuk-gal Thank you! But I suppose that’s really also a thank you on Leon’s behalf, however he might feel about that The workmanship on this piece is impeccable - it’s clean and precise from every angle, even under a loupe. Such a pleasure to take photos of

 

[kathley]

Oh. My. Word! A stunning work of art!

 

[yssie]

@lissyflo Thank you, for both right now and for all the #before Evoking movement… Well, you know how much I wanted that. Precisely *that*. Something that was just realistic enough for delicacy and angling to make a difference with

Moonstones are a very You sort of stone. Dare I say that? I do still owe you for the turquoise binge.

I really appreciated that I never had to worry about fact-checking Leon's decisions and actually the moonstones are a really good example of that. Being able to trust him to bring up things I needed to opine on and take care of the rest himself, I mean. I didn't do a whit of work to choose those moonstones, they just showed up for me one day, and despite being totally hands-off they really are spectacular specimens that I'd have happily chosen for myself!

So the moonstones in the flower have stronger blue adularescence. For sure. I think they're about as blue as moonstones of that size can possibly get. And at first I was disappointed that the moth moonstones weren't quite as blue. But practically - the flower's stones are all the same size, the moth's obviously aren't! And there's just no way smaller moonstones can keep up with largers. So making all the moth moonstones match required that they be less blue - and I can logic my way backward into that, sure, but I honestly appreciated not having to even think about it in the first place

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@dk168 I will not be doing much of anything with this bangle either, to be very very clear It’s probably the least wearable piece in my whole bling collection. I knew that going into it though!

Y’all probably know my philosophy on bling by now. I really do see it as art and wearability is a bonus for me, not a requirement. I’m perfectly happy spreading my little #arts on the duvet and making googly eyes at them all by myself

Thank you!!

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@Kim N That is high praise!! Thank you! And I gotta say, I’ve definitely peaked with this one. Nothing I ever commission in future will be as impressive, even to me. The confessional continues

I remember reading some of the which five pieces would you save from T.Rex threads last year and secretly wondering where I’d rank my bracelet… Well, yeah, I have an answer, this and my RDG are very very clearly my (1) and (2). So now I wonder what just got budged off

I’ll try to get some pics of the flecks in the black tomorrow!! They’re only visible up close, and they look almost like tiny dust particles until bright light hits just right

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@Mrsz1ppy Thank you so much!! I’m still kind of in awe that this is actually *mine*. Yup, I *own* this, I don’t have to give it back, I can carry it away to wherever I’d like and no-one will stop me…

The original version is actually up on Leon’s website still - I forgot to ask if he’ll be updating it. It does have a nice short video of the moth ❤️
https://leonmege.com/jewelry/mothra-jade-butterfly-flower-moonstone-bracelet/

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@oldcutclubmember Thank you I’m surprised by the number of PSers who prefer the second version, to be honest, I really didn’t expect that would be the case!

Having a V1 to learn from was so valuable in so many ways. I can’t call it “fortuitous”, because someone I consider a friend still hasn’t been compensated for a loss that was in no way his fault, and I would have loved V1 had it been the final incarnation as planned But… At least we took as much we could from the experience right?

I can still almost feel how incredibly relieved I was when I truly loved the new cuff

 

[oncrutchesrightnow]

Fairytale beautiful. Those moonstones are like a sunset in early June.

 

[yssie]

@Eli22 Thank you so much!!

The ladybugs, so that was another part of the saga that I shortened a fair bit

Even once I came around to the idea of coral rather than pave - or maybe actually because I came round to the idea of coral rather than pave - I was picky picky.

Like. I picked out the exact shade of coral I wanted. (And the supplier emailed Leon to verify which cabs would be acceptable, and Leon emailed me to confirm... Poor fellows )




And then I wasn’t happy with the first ladybug carving, and I specified exactly how they needed to be shaped...




At one point - pretty early on - I’d asked for one ladybug to be open-winged and the other closed-winged. By some later point our plan had changed to closed-wings-only, but there was a miscommunication and this was the first pair Leon received (the bellows-body didn’t work for either of us!!) -




I’d also originally wanted the two ladybugs to be different somehow, and I decided that I wanted the differentiator to be size. So the first cuff had ladybugs that were ~10mm long and ~9m long - Leon though they should be bigger but I asked for them to be "real world scale" petite.

But then the original cuff was broken, and those two ladybugs couldn’t be detached, and we had to have new ones made. Three this time rather than two. And this time around I didn’t dictate anything, I just let Leon decide everything, and he made them all the same size (~11mm long, a bit bigger than before) but with slightly varying colours.

And not exactly super surprisingly - it really turned out much better his way!! The two originals were spaced so far apart on the cuff that you couldn't actually tell they were different in size. Which I hadn't considered. And having them bigger adds to the caricature effect anyway, and the colour difference is actually visible in-person from any angle or distance - so all in all this whole thing turned into Yet Another Example of me being glad I'd backed the heck off on the micromanaging and let the designer dictate the design


Edit - Here's a pic I tossed but it shows the ladybug colours pretty well

 

[Ann]

OMG!! What a stunning piece of art. Your vision and Leon's masterful expertise, it was destined to be perfection. Gorgeous!

 

[yssie]

OMG @lulu_ma I couldn’t stop taking photos!! This is what I texted my other half



But... The ends of the cuff are *rounded*. No flat parts at all. So it couldn't stay upright without being balanced on something - that's why it's touching a twig or a stem or a leaf or a petal in every single picture The number of times it sloooowly tipped over as I burst-grabbed as many pics as quickly as possible

I think I might prefer the flower IRL actually, because it’s more subtle, and its moonstones do have stronger blue sheen, but the moth flirts with the camera - I probably took twice as many photos of the moth

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@Daisys and Diamonds

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@CBianco Thank you!!

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@MissGotRocks Thank you so much ❤️ I showed it to a friend IRL and her first comment was “totally OTT and totally you”

The storage situation is very questionable at the moment I’m afraid, it didn’t fit into any jewellery box Leon had and it doesn’t fit into any jewellery box I’ve got... So I’ve wrapped it up nice and safe in part of an old memory foam pad But I'm nice so I’ll spare y’all the visual

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Thank you @Asscherhalo_lover! I love the idea of wearing it to a fancy little brunch somewhere. Like the Blue Box Cafe if the Blue Box Cafe wasn’t closed. I have a feeling I might never corral the gumption to actually wear it outdoors though

Maybe I’ll start with some long car drives

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

OMG @lulu_ma I couldn’t stop taking photos!! This is what I texted my other half



But... The ends of the cuff are *rounded*. No flat parts at all. So it couldn't stay upright without being balanced on something - that's why it's touching a twig or a stem or a leaf or a petal in every single picture The number of times it sloooowly tipped over as I burst-grabbed as many pics as quickly as possible

I think I might prefer the flower IRL actually, because it’s more subtle, and its moonstones do have stronger blue sheen, but the moth flirts with the camera - I probably took twice as many photos of the moth

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@Daisys and Diamonds

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@CBianco Thank you!!

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@MissGotRocks Thank you so much ❤️ I showed it to a friend IRL and her first comment was “totally OTT and totally you”

The storage situation is very questionable at the moment I’m afraid, it didn’t fit into any jewellery box Leon had and it doesn’t fit into any jewellery box I’ve got... So I’ve wrapped it up nice and safe in part of an old memory foam pad But I'm nice so I’ll spare y’all the visual

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Thank you @Asscherhalo_lover! I love the idea of wearing it to a fancy little brunch somewhere. Like the Blue Box Cafe if the Blue Box Cafe wasn’t closed. I have a feeling I might never corral the gumption to actually wear it outdoors though

Maybe I’ll start with some long car drives

i can wip you up some bacon and eggs if that would help
kumera rosti, tomatoes what ever you want

 

[LLJsmom]

More than anything, your patience and sheer will to see this project to the end is what allowed this magnificent piece to exist. Envisioning it, putting the pieces together, working with another artist and craftsman, obtaining the raw materials, being patient during its construction, waiting through that GBTA debacle, and it has finally materialized on your wrist. I can hardly believe its there, but you're holding it and taking Yssie quality pictures and touching it and watching the light play on the moonstones. Oh my goodness, its finally home. What a journey. If this isn't high jewelry, I don't know what is. I am so so so thrilled it's everything you wanted, and more. I hope someday to be able to see this magnificent work of art in person. If I were you, I would want to look at it and touch it and hold it and stare at it every day. It is so beautiful my heart aches a little. And seriously, who would have thought a bold black cuff would be the perfect base for this ethereal butterfly and flower, but of course now that I look at it, it seems nothing else could have worked. I am so happy for you. VCA is beautiful and wonderful to wear on a regular basis. But this is treasure is just many levels beyond. You deserve this. Thank you for sharing your story. This lovely bangle already has its own history. I think your book should be about your jewelry journey as an extension of your life. I'd buy it if you write it. You are a gifted artist, visionary, and writer. Each of your pieces is so personal, so specific, so treasured. They each deserve a chapter.

 

[yssie]

@SparklieBug Thank you!! It’s legit been such a trip. So many ups and downs and back-up-agains ❤️ Leon must be every bit as thrilled to see the end as I am

From basically where we started out to where we ended up





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@Cerulean Thank you so much

Yes!! The ladybugs really did need to be simple and bold and cartooney. If they’d been the pave delicacies I was envisioning at first it would’ve actually been pretty boring

So I didn’t post Leon’s first moth sketch before…



It’s honestly kind of amazing the difference changing the wing silhouette and inverting the moonstone pears made. Totally eliminated the cutesy, transformed it into something captivating and very grown-up

And a closeup of the wax right before it was finished - shows off the asymmetries and inconsistencies that hand carving it yielded… Another of Leon’s recommendations that made such a big difference!




I’m thrilled with it
Maybe five years ago ish I had a handful of pieces that were almost perfect and I was eternally trying to talk myself into loving them, and that never succeeded of course... And over the past few years I've rehomed or remade or repurposed all of them, and these days the only things I want to keep are the ones that are exactly what I want. This is definitely one of them no worries there

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@icy_jade Thank you!! And trust me when I say the desire to play with the other’s bling wardrobe is entirely mutual Although - I can’t even see myself wearing this one out to dinner, I think other jewellers’ galas might have to wait til my grandchildren’s generation

Ugh. AGTA. So I’ll share one more thing. They sent the winning pieces out to their photographer (supposedly my cuff broke during shipping to the photog). This is one of the pictures said photog took. Didn’t even bother to line the parts up to hide the break - and how on earth did he or she manage to take such a totally *dead* photo of something so vivacious? It's just astonishingly awful photography
Okay back to better topics. I’m dying at your name descriptions Have you ever seen The Tick? It’s a fabulously irreverent animated TV series for adults (but without the, y’know, #asinine and #crass that other cartoons for adults have) - but it’s older, and American, so I don’t know if it made it overseas at all. Highly recommend if you’ve not and you ever run into it I texted Leon earlier today to see if he’s watched it because the humour is *right* up his alley.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112196/
Anyway. Really long way to say that Betty, Helga, Olga, and Mothra don’t surprise me in the least

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@dk168 I missed your second post earlier I adore the man, both as a person and as a jeweller - he’s sharp and quick-witted and has that typical Eastern Bloc dark and self-deprecating humour ❤️ I don’t see people who prioritize professionally-sterile communications or who #JustWantAGreatBenchForMyIdeasSoPleaseDoExactlyAsIAsk fitting well with him but that's okay, there's a good vendor fit out there for everyone's preferences and wants!!

At this point my go-tos are Leon, WF, CvB, Erika Winters, Takahashi, and Pearl Paradise. Not in any particular order. Between those six I’ve got all my needs and niches covered

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@LilAlex The pearls are embedded into the ethos of the underside, they ensnare the… Okay yeah I got nothing that's fit to print

Leon didn’t warn me about not changing tires. Derelict of him. But fortunately for us all I haven’t the foggiest how to change a tire, so the circumstance is spared by necessity. Thoughts & prayers fulfilled!

( And thank you )

 

[icy_jade]

Okay back to better topics. I’m dying at your name descriptions Have you ever seen The Tick? It’s a fabulously irreverent animated TV series for adults (but without the, y’know, #asinine and #crass that other cartoons for adults have) - but it’s older, and American, so I don’t know if it made it overseas at all. Highly recommend if you’ve not and you ever run into it I texted Leon earlier today to see if he’s watched it because the humour is *right* up his alley.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112196/
Anyway. Really long way to say that Betty, Helga, Olga, and Mothra don’t surprise me in the least

Leon sounds like a hoot to work with if you get his sense of humour. Plus he works magic with the metals. Really gorgeous.

Your rubellite earrings are beautiful too. I think almost everyone was too stunned by your bangle to comment on the earrings haha.

Will a watch case work for your bangle?

 

[lulu_ma]

OMG @lulu_ma I couldn’t stop taking photos!! This is what I texted my other half



But... The ends of the cuff are *rounded*. No flat parts at all. So it couldn't stay upright without being balanced on something - that's why it's touching a twig or a stem or a leaf or a petal in every single picture The number of times it sloooowly tipped over as I burst-grabbed as many pics as quickly as possible

I think I might prefer the flower IRL actually, because it’s more subtle, and its moonstones do have stronger blue sheen, but the moth flirts with the camera - I probably took twice as many photos of the moth

Eek-the image of Mothra slowly tipping over mildly freaked me out this morning!

If you want to take more upright photos, this stuff might work well:



And-call me crazy-I think Mothra would look amazing displayed in a Glass Cloche with a lux base.