soon to propose to gf and thinking of getting leon mege halo

[vik6]

the exact style is: RING HALO 811 ADRIANNA

wondering if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations. gf likes halos and this is the one that made her eyes light up.

 

[radiant lover]

do u have a picture of it? I would love to see it

 

[radiant lover]

nevermind! I believe lesco has it. If that''s the one then it''s beautiful!!! What size center were you planning on getting?

 

[lucyandroger]

If this is the one that makes her eyes light up, then who cares what we think?!

But in all seriousness, that''s a beautiful choice!

 

[diamondringlover]

Stunning choice

 

[icekid]

Date: 7/14/2009 6:14:25 PM
Author:vik6
the exact style is: RING HALO 811 ADRIANNA


wondering if anyone has any thoughts or recommendations. gf likes halos and this is the one that made her eyes light up.

Gorgeous ring! Get the girl what she wants

 

[pannini]

UM! You should look at heb1976''s precious halo by Leon. it is the adrianna! it is one of my absolute favorite sets. definitely search her posts to see her experiences.



https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-leon-band-and-wf-flower-cluster-earrings.112964/

 

[Phoenix]

I have that setting!! Check out the pic in my avatar and also this linky (mine is almost towards the end of the page):

https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/show-me-3-5-4-5-size-finger-with-diamond-ring.108097/

I think this setting would look lovely with any diamond shape. It''s super delicate and super blingy and yet it makes the centre diamond look much bigger and much more blingy!! YAY!!

 

[vik6]

thanks everyone. I really do want to get this setting done by leon - the only problem is the quote that he gave me is a bit out of my price range. does anyone know if he is negotiable? and if so, how much? I have gone to a few jewelers and just about everyone says they can make me the same thing, but I am worried it just wont be as nice. but, they are all charging about $2K less.

Phoenix - your ring is awesome. Yup, same thing - I just want to do it with a round stone - about 1.04 ct, just like the one heb1976 has ... basically the same exact ring.

Any more advice will be greatly helpful. Comparable jewelers, thoughts on leon, will she be able to tell the difference if I get it done by a good jeweler, is it worth it for the name, etc? my gf is very reasonable and I know she will love anything I get her ... even when we went to do some preliminary ring shopping together and someone quoted us a figure, she right away was like "that is way too much" ... while i knew i would spend in that range at least. I just dont want to overspend on the ring ... especially when we have some major costs in our future, including our marriage and possibly a new house. but with that said, I know she will be in tears of happiness if I splurge for the leon.

I live in DC and have a stone broker on standby in NY. i really want to propose in mid august ... so if I do decide to go with Leon, I know I have to get a move on it.

THANK YOU EVERYONE SO MUCH! (this forum is so helpful for a guy like me!!!)

 

[md74]

First of all, congrats on your upcoming engagement.

It is also great that you are really trying to give your girlfriend soon to be fiancee what she really wants.

I just thought I''d give you my personal experience, having had my last setting done by Leon (who is great):

I have been wearing my engagement ring for five years (married 3 1/2). I have had the setting redone twice (for a total of three settings). ALL the settings were custom. The first setting was done by the people from whom my husband got the stone. It crumpled into an ovoid shape after a year and a half (from no pressure - I took it off one night and it was oval), and I was lucky not to damage the stone. The second setting was better, but the stone still kept coming loose (a pear, granted more difficult to set). This made us wonder if the stone was really secure and protected, and I also always felt there were aesthetic flaws in the setting that bugged me.

This year when the stone came loose yet again, we finally went to Leon, who I learned about on pricescope. He was wonderful to work with, very patient, up front, and good at explaining options.

All of the settings for my ring were solitaires, so less complex than the one you are looking at. I could see flaws in the first two, and they both caused problems with wear. The final setting we got from Leon is aesthetically beautiful, makes my stone look the best by far (as it does on its own), and protects it.

The cost of the second setting and the third, Leon''s setting, were the same. The workmanship is miles apart.

I HIGHLY recommend Leon. With the money that was spent on my first two settings, which weren''t as nice looking or structurally sound, I could have had another piece of jewelry. So, if your girlfriend really likes that setting, based on my experience I would go with Leon. He is totally worth the cost, and I actually feel his costs are quite reasonable for the quality. Maybe you can ask him if there is any other option which will be similar but bring the cost down for you? Don''t know on that. I don''t think he bargains, in response to your question. But you will get a beautiful setting, which won''t need to be replaced, as my original two did, which is stressful and costly. If we had known, we would have had him do the first setting.

And we will definitely use Leon again!

Good luck, whichever route you go.

 

[Gypsy]

2k less. Yikes. I would ask him if there was a way to make a similar ring that costs less. I mean, that one has full eternity... maybe he can do 1/2 eternity, make some changes to the basket... something.

I would call him and say, hey look... I want to work with you, and my GF loves the look of that setting... is there anything we can do to the design to make it work for my budget, but still keep close to the look of the Adrianna. See what he says.

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 7/15/2009 11:12:52 PM
Author: Gypsy
2k less. Yikes. I would ask him if there was a way to make a similar ring that costs less. I mean, that one has full eternity... maybe he can do 1/2 eternity, make some changes to the basket... something.

I would call him and say, hey look... I want to work with you, and my GF loves the look of that setting... is there anything we can do to the design to make it work for my budget, but still keep close to the look of the Adrianna. See what he says.

Ditto. But when you make the call stroke his ego.... them tell him you can''t afford it as is, what can you do to make it within your budget while still going for the look... Let us know how it goes, good lucl!!!

 

[Phoenix]

Vik,

Thank you for your kind words about my ring. Leon''s work is really second to none, none of my melee has ever fallen out and the craftmanship - lookwise - is top notch. I''ve worked with him twice, have asked him for numerous quotes and have found him to be courteous, professional and willing to listen.

Ditto what the others have said about asking Leon to a modified quotation, given the same kind of look.

Just FYI in case you''re interested, I paid $5.4k for my setting but only because the stone is larger. I remember reading someone on PS was given a quote about $4k for her RB. Not sure if that''s what Leon has quoted you, but if he could go below $4k for you, that''d be one heck of a deal! Remember that if you were to go with s.o. else, you might have to have it remade in the future (not to mention the look would not be the same), and that would in the end add up to the cost.

 

[pannini]

I ditto the modified quotation with perhaps a half eternity band rather than the full eternity band. less diamonds in the shank will mean less $$$!

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 7/16/2009 2:46:03 AM
Author: pannini
I ditto the modified quotation with perhaps a half eternity band rather than the full eternity band. less diamonds in the shank will mean less $$$!

I agree. However, i think most of the cost is in the labour.

 

[vik6]

Thanks again everyone, once again this is all very helpful.

md74, thanks for your detailed experience - very helpful.

i like the idea of trying to trim down on the work a bit in efforts to get Leon to reduce the price. my gf actually didnt want to work the entire way around the band even and i didnt realize that it did that, so I will ask Leon to just go down on the front part of the band that is visible when looking at the stone.

I''ll let everyone know what the outcome is and hopefully i''ll be sending some nice pics of it out in a couple weeks!

(if anyone else has any more thoughts, please keep them coming .... this is so helpful!!!!)

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 7/15/2009 11:23:12 PM
Author: Kaleigh

Date: 7/15/2009 11:12:52 PM
Author: Gypsy
2k less. Yikes. I would ask him if there was a way to make a similar ring that costs less. I mean, that one has full eternity... maybe he can do 1/2 eternity, make some changes to the basket... something.

I would call him and say, hey look... I want to work with you, and my GF loves the look of that setting... is there anything we can do to the design to make it work for my budget, but still keep close to the look of the Adrianna. See what he says.

Ditto. But when you make the call stroke his ego.... them tell him you can''t afford it as is, what can you do to make it within your budget while still going for the look... Let us know how it goes, good lucl!!!

Total Ditto. AND DON''T MENTION OTHER QOUTES OR MAKERS. He is LEON. No one else compares.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 7/16/2009 3:06:11 AM
Author: Phoenix

Date: 7/16/2009 2:46:03 AM
Author: pannini
I ditto the modified quotation with perhaps a half eternity band rather than the full eternity band. less diamonds in the shank will mean less $$$!

I agree. However, i think most of the cost is in the labour.

It is, but that''s also less stones to set, so the labor goes down too. Worth a try.

 

[Phoenix]

Date: 7/16/2009 12:09:30 PM
Author: Gypsy

Date: 7/16/2009 3:06:11 AM
Author: Phoenix

Date: 7/16/2009 2:46:03 AM
Author: pannini
I ditto the modified quotation with perhaps a half eternity band rather than the full eternity band. less diamonds in the shank will mean less $$$!

I agree. However, i think most of the cost is in the labour.

It is, but that''s also less stones to set, so the labor goes down too. Worth a try.

Absolutely!! Agreed.

 

[geoffreysnow]

Date: 7/16/2009 12:03:41 PM
Author: vik6


I''ll let everyone know what the outcome is and hopefully i''ll be sending some nice pics of it out in a couple weeks!

Ask Leon what his current timeframe is for the setting... "a couple week" might not be realistic...