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questions for leon mege plain solitaire owners

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md74

Rough_Rock
Joined
Aug 2, 2007
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I am thinking about having a reset of my pear solitaire done by Leon Mege. I know a lot of people have beautiful pave rings from Leon, which is a whole different thing in terms of time and construction, I would think. I wanted to know from the plain solitaire Leon owners how their experience was and did you still have to leave the stone with him for the whole time that he was constructing the ring?

Thanks for the info.
 
I''m not the owner of a solitaire, but I do know you have to send him your stone so the setting can be custom built around it. So once he has it, he would just keep it, there would be no point is sending it back and forth, plus he would possibly need it throughout the process to make sure it fits right.
 
Thanks, Ellen. I am in NYC, so I didn''t know if it would have to be the same for someone local, who isn''t having an elaborate setting done. This would be my second reset. I did not have to leave the stone for the first reset - they took measurements, and then I brought the stone in when they set it at the end. I just wondered what solitaire Leon owners experiences were in general, and also, I guess, whether they had to leave the stone the entire time (I sort of forgot that that would depend also on whether someone was local).

Thanks for the info, though.
 
Ah, see, I was just assuming you weren''t local! Most don''t seem to be. It may be different because of that. Hopefully the locals will chime in!
 
Was your first setting handmade? Thay may be why he would want it the whole time...
 
Yes, it was.
 
Ummmmmm. Anybody? I know some people may have been at work earlier. I''d really appreciate any input or any other setter recommendations.
 
I''ve never heard of anyone not leaving the stone with him. most high end designers prefer it and many won''t do a setting without the stone in hand. are you worried about security or something?
 
Hi,
I don't own a solitaire either but inquired about having one made just today. I don't know the answer to your question but why don't you call him? He was really nice with me on the phone. I just asked for him, that was it. Jeez, if I had seen this before I would have asked.

ETA: Just read an e-mail, it says stone must remain on premises... ( not a direct quote). I should note I'm in NYC also.
 
Hi md74,

I'm not yet an owner of a Leon solitaire but I will be soon, albeit with some pave on the shank. My bf and I are also 'local'. We left the centre stone with Leon the entire time he worked on the setting. I think it makes sense to do so because each setting he makes is unique to the stone and he would need/want to reference the stone at any given time during the process.
 
Well there goes my first theory! LOL
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I highly doubt he will do it without the stone in his possession. He has so much work going on there and I am sure they go from project to project. I also know that he takes a few liberties with his designs and will sometimes alter something in the middle, therefore he would probably need the stone to make the proper corrections. He seems very set in his ways so I don''t know that he will make any concessions, bc if he were to let you keep your own stone and he had to call you every week to bring it to him for the day it would be kinda time consuming. It never hurts to ask, but don''t be too upset if he doesn''t oblidge.
 
Thanks for the info, guys.

Yeah, I knew it said that on the website - just didn''t know if it was a simpler setting and local if it had to be that way. Thing is - and before everybody jumps on me and tells me how they all left their stones with him and it was fine, I am sure they were and that is totally cool if you were comfortable with that, and I am not knocking Leon or any other jeweler - I just don''t know that we are going to be comfortable with that. I am really sentimental about the stone, and I never plan to upgrade. It is the stone my husband proposed with four years ago, and it is a pear, so not picked out based on round measurements etc. I wear this stone everyday and have been for four years, and don''t really want to leave it with someone for 4-6 weeks or whatever it takes. And I know that plenty of people do, and it would probably be fine.

I was just looking at Leon, because it seems that a lot of people have him do setting/resets and his work looks good. I''d be open to other recommendations.

Thanks for all the info, everybody!
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I sent my stone to him and it stayed there for about 6 weeks. They want the stone there when they need it rather than contacting back and forth about bringing a stone back in, etc. I really can''t blame them for that.

Another popular solitaire maker would be Mark Morrell, but I am pretty sure he keeps the stones while working on the settings as well.
 
Gotcha. Well, I didn''t have to do that the last time. We met with the jeweler, talked about the setting and showed him the stone. Came back and looked at the wax another time, and then came back and had the stone set when the ring was finished. Now, maybe if they had had the stone the whole time I wouldn''t be wanting to have it reset now. I guess I will have to weigh this out.

Another question for anyone with a Leon solitaire, did you just get the classic solitaire, or did you/he come up with something different/built differently particularly for your stone?

Thanks.
 
Mine was the classic solitaire. It is easiest to use him when you want an existing design.
 
I can understand your being sentimental about your stone, but as far as the possibility of something happening to your stone, it''s in more danger while being set than simply being at the jewelers. Kind of like driving vs. flying.
 
You mentioned that they made a wax of your first setting. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but when a ring is handmade there is usually no wax mold...

We bought my stone from Mark at ERD, walked across the street (literally 18 second walk), met with Leon, left, and it has been almost 6 weeks since I have seen it. Truth be told, no matter who is making you a custom setting they will need the stone. Some just may not take as long. But that''s the price some of us were willing to pay for what is said to be some of the finest pieces of jewelry out there. Oh and my stone will never be upgraded either and I''m about as sentimental as it gets so I do understand that, but considering all the security it is way safer there than with me! LOL

If you liked the way your first jeweler did things, what''s the reason for not going back to them??
 
Date: 4/29/2008 7:59:03 AM
Author: CrookedRock
You mentioned that they made a wax of your first setting. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but when a ring is handmade there is usually no wax mold...
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OKAY PLEASE READ THIS:

MY SETTING IS COMPLETELY HANDMADE. I can see that by my saying it was handmade and then saying "the wax" it sounds off. I said it wrong. THAT IS NO REASON TO JUMP ALL OVER ME, MAKE ANTAGONISTIC COMMENTS, AND CALL ME OUT FOR NOT KNOWING WHAT A HANDMADE SETTING IS. The subject of my original post is "questions for Leon Mege solitaire owners". I am no longer getting answers to my questions and CrookedRock and mrssalvo, those were not very nice posts. They were a bit antagonistic. mrssalvo didn''t even post, you just reposted CrookedRock "correct me if I''m wrong" antagonism.

My setting was handmade. I saw it in process, and had a slight change made. I looked at a wax (I misspoke in the earlier post and said "the") that they had for another not handmade ring to get an idea of certain design aspects at the time that we were discussing the design of my ring (how far it would sit off the hand or something). So in my earlier post I misspoke on the timeline slightly as well. I just forgot. I asked my husband and he corrected me.

I also wrote this earlier: "and before everybody jumps on me and tells me how they all left their stones with him and it was fine, I am sure they were and that is totally cool if you were comfortable with that, and I am not knocking Leon or any other jeweler - I just don''t know that we are going to be comfortable with that."

So, CrookedRock, I am so not faulting your choice in leaving your stone with Leon, and, as I said, I am sure it is fine.

I recognize that, if most makers of custom, handmade rings will want me to leave the stone for the entire time I will either 1)have to get over it or 2)not get a setting made by them.

I think that my original question was valid and could have been answered kindly. All I asked for was for LEON MEGE SOLITAIRE OWNERS experiences on the process and whether they had to leave the stone the entire time if they were local. And then I asked for other recommendations of setters. There was no reason to make this a chain at my expense calling into question my existing setting and even what I said. And asking me, "If you liked the way your first jeweler did things, what''s the reason for not going back to them??", CrookedRock, is not in keeping with my post, and somewhat antagonistic.

I have been a lurker on pricescope for some time and have posted only occasionally. This doesn''t make me want to post anymore.

Thank you to those of you who offered helpful information based on my original questions. I really appreciate the feedback and the kind way in which it was posted.
 
Date: 4/29/2008 11:42:36 AM
Author: md74
OKAY PLEASE READ THIS:

MY SETTING IS COMPLETELY HANDMADE. I can see that by my saying it was handmade and then saying ''the wax'' it sounds off. I said it wrong. THAT IS NO REASON TO JUMP ALL OVER ME, MAKE ANTAGONISTIC COMMENTS, AND CALL ME OUT FOR NOT KNOWING WHAT A HANDMADE SETTING IS. The subject of my original post is ''questions for Leon Mege solitaire owners''. I am no longer getting answers to my questions and CrookedRock and mrssalvo, those were not very nice posts. They were a bit antagonistic. mrssalvo didn''t even post, you just reposted CrookedRock ''correct me if I''m wrong'' antagonism.

My setting was handmade. I saw it in process, and had a slight change made. I looked at a wax (I misspoke in the earlier post and said ''the'') that they had for another not handmade ring to get an idea of certain design aspects at the time that we were discussing the design of my ring (how far it would sit off the hand or something). So in my earlier post I misspoke on the timeline slightly as well. I just forgot. I asked my husband and he corrected me.

I also wrote this earlier: ''and before everybody jumps on me and tells me how they all left their stones with him and it was fine, I am sure they were and that is totally cool if you were comfortable with that, and I am not knocking Leon or any other jeweler - I just don''t know that we are going to be comfortable with that.''

So, CrookedRock, I am so not faulting your choice in leaving your stone with Leon, and, as I said, I am sure it is fine.

I recognize that, if most makers of custom, handmade rings will want me to leave the stone for the entire time I will either 1)have to get over it or 2)not get a setting made by them.

I think that my original question was valid and could have been answered kindly. All I asked for was for LEON MEGE SOLITAIRE OWNERS experiences on the process and whether they had to leave the stone the entire time if they were local. And then I asked for other recommendations of setters. There was no reason to make this a chain at my expense calling into question my existing setting and even what I said. And asking me, ''If you liked the way your first jeweler did things, what''s the reason for not going back to them??'', CrookedRock, is not in keeping with my post, and somewhat antagonistic.

I have been a lurker on pricescope for some time and have posted only occasionally. This doesn''t make me want to post anymore.

Thank you to those of you who offered helpful information based on my original questions. I really appreciate the feedback and the kind way in which it was posted.
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You are really overreacting. No one said anything offensive to you, and everyone was trying to be helpful and explain things to you. With an attitude like yours, I doubt many people will want to help you if you do post in the future.
 
there was nothing antagonistic about their posts. In fact, they both tried to help you. Talk to Leon if you are concerned.
 
Wow. I thought CrookedRock''s post was very polite and helpful actually. I assumed mrssalvo just had some technical error or something. At least neither of them yelled at you all in capital letters
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To answer your original questions:

Our experiences with Leon so far have been fabulous, BF has thoroughly enjoyed working with him and has found him very friendly and very open to discussing ideas, although he will tell you straight up if he doesn''t like something you are suggesting (which doesn''t mean he refuses to do it, just that he''ll say he''s not a fan). We''ve left our stone with him the entire time, we''re comfortable with that, obviously that''s something you have to decide on for yourself if you''re comfortable with.

I don''t have any recommendations for designers who''ll do hand-made settings without having the stone on hand throughout the process but maybe someone else can chime in. Sadly I can also see this thread going off on a tangent now after your last post.
 
Ummm... Seriously?
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Date: 4/29/2008 11:42:36 AM
Author: md74
O mrssalvo didn't even post, you just reposted CrookedRock 'correct me if I'm wrong' antagonism.
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well, just so you know, i did type a post along with my quote. i currently have a 3 week old baby and am often typing with one hand and hitting submit. i honestly don't know what happened to my comments. and i thought crookedrock was being genuine in her correct me if i'm wrong comment...


I also don't see anything wrong with what crookedrock said. you said you had a wax for your previous setting which is an indicator that the setting was not made by hand. crookedrock was only trying to help clarify b/c if there was indeed a wax that would explain why you did not have to leave your stone. crookedrock and myself are really very friendly and polite on this forum so i'm not sure why you feel attacked. i am sorry about the technical error in my previous post and hope you find the right person to make your dream ring.

also, since you've lurked here i'm sure you know people will try to be helpful in anyway they can, even if thy aren't a leon solitaire owner, many of us do have experiance with him and who knows, something said in this thread might just help someone else.
 
Date: 4/29/2008 3:21:54 PM
Author: mrssalvo
also, since you''ve lurked here i''m sure you know people will try to be helpful in anyway they can, even if thy aren''t a leon solitaire owner, many of us do have experiance with him and who knows, something said in this thread might just help someone else.
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I agree. I''m sorry if you mistook some comments, but I assure you no one meant any harm.
 
I''m having him set a stone for me right now in a solitaire setting and the stone is still there with him. The same happened w/ another ring I had him make for me, so I''m guessing you must leave it there with him until it''s completed (4-6 weeks).
 
Ok I went back and reread this thread 4 times.... Nowhere was I antagonist or had any intention of being so. I was sincerely trying to help as Mrs S, Delster, Ellen, Mishka, and Thing2of2 pointed out. Thank you ladies!

Asking to be corrected about the wax with a handmade ring was me inquiring bc I was not positive. I never ever said that you did not know what a handmade setting is.

I also did not "jump all over you" about leaving your stone with him. I was trying to tell you that we were on the same page bc I too will not be upgrading and am extremely sentimental about my stone.

And this...."If you liked the way your first jeweler did things, what''s the reason for not going back to them??", CrookedRock, is not in keeping with my post, and somewhat antagonistic.
I was def keeping with your post and trying to figure out why if someone has such a positive experience the first time and prefers the way that that jeweler operates why would they not want to use them again. And I am still curious...

I have to agree with thing2of2 in saying that you really overreacted. I ask you to please reread this thread like I did and hopefully you will see that.
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Date: 4/29/2008 3:21:54 PM
Author: mrssalvo

I also don''t see anything wrong with what crookedrock said. you said you had a wax for your previous setting which is an indicator that the setting was not made by hand. crookedrock was only trying to help clarify b/c if there was indeed a wax that would explain why you did not have to leave your stone. crookedrock and myself are really very friendly and polite on this forum so i''m not sure why you feel attacked. i am sorry about the technical error in my previous post and hope you find the right person to make your dream ring.
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A hearty ditto
 
Ok.

So, I would like to apologize for my capitals. I am not too chat group savvy, so I honestly didn''t know that meant yelling. I don''t yell in real life, so I certainly wouldn''t do it online. Not polite and no one deserves that. I only meant to draw attention to what I wrote at that point - not "yell". So I am sorry, CrookedRock and mrssalvo for seeming to yell, as that was not at all my intention.

I guess I mistook what you wrote CrookedRock - e-mail can be misleading, as one only gets the phrase and not necessarily the tone of voice or thought process that would go along with it in person. Same could be said for my return post, which I did not mean to be yelling at CrookedRock or mrssalvo or as vehement as it apparently has been taken by others.

This is what you wrote CrookedRock:

"You mentioned that they made a wax of your first setting. Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but when a ring is handmade there is usually no wax mold..."

That is not clarifying with me. That is telling me I don''t have a custom, handmade setting (which I understand I made sound plausible by my mistaken mention of "the" wax).

You went on to say, "We bought my stone from Mark at ERD, walked across the street (literally 18 second walk), met with Leon, left, and it has been almost 6 weeks since I have seen it. Truth be told, no matter who is making you a custom setting they will need the stone. Some just may not take as long. But that''s the price some of us were willing to pay for what is said to be some of the finest pieces of jewelry out there. Oh and my stone will never be upgraded either and I''m about as sentimental as it gets so I do understand that, but considering all the security it is way safer there than with me! LOL

If you liked the way your first jeweler did things, what''s the reason for not going back to them??"

Really, reading that, it just did feel like a bit of a put down. I had already said I had a custom, handmade setting done, and the jeweler did not ask to keep my stone the whole time. I realize now that that does not seem to be the typical experience. This jeweler used to work for HW and Tiffany''s, and still does work for a number of the 5th ave jewelers. So my experience has been different than others. My knowing that it was custom, and your saying that you always have to leave the stone for a custom ring, obviously don''t go together. And the thing about, the price some of us are willing to pay, I realize now maybe you meant tongue in cheek, not the way it came off to me at the time.

I understand, and even pointed out my error in saying "the wax", and I do understand now that perhaps you were only trying to clarify with me. It just seemed at the time that you were asking everybody else on the forum to chime in on what was a handmade setting and suggest that I was making an incorrect comparison and didn''t know what I was talking about. That and saying, "If you liked the way your first jeweler did things, what''s the reason for not going back to them??" didn''t come off to me as being helpful or clarifying it with me at the time. It really did seem a little antagonistic to me. I understand that is not what you meant, but that was just how it came off to me. I am sorry I misconstrued that.

This has all turned into WAY too big of a deal.

So, I am fine - not upset - please don''t be upset with me. Everyone jumping on and telling one or another person how wrong they are is not necessary, I don''t think. Amazing how much more popular the chain gets when there is something like that.

I did genuinely want to know these things, and appreciate peoples answers.

I think I have the info I wanted, which actually was pretty simple. Sounds like most peoples experience is to leave the stone, and people are very happy with Leon. Sounds like my experience of not leaving the stone is unusual, and I might have to get over it if I am interested in having someone else do a new setting. I''ll have to think on it, and go over it with my husband.

Thanks everybody for your answers to my questions.

mrssalvo, congrats on your baby. Wish you all the best. Am amazed that you are even on here typing with one hand with a new little one! Best wishes.
 
md, glad we got everything cleared up! I hope everything works out with your ring, whatever you decide to do.
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And we''d love to see it when it''s finished.
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