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Working w/ Leon Mege - out of state?

  • Thread starter Thread starter nj12345
  • Start date Start date
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nj12345

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Hi Everyone,

I live in Los Angeles but I absolutely love Leon Mege's work - I am trying to make an asscher cut w/ tapered baguettes (Harry Winston/Graff style). I have a 4 ct asscher stone on hold to purchase, so I am just looking to find side stones and setting.

I haven't seen any rings in LA that fit the delicate setting I'm looking for, but I have fallen in love with Leon's work w/ tapered baguettes. The problem is, I'm all the way across the country. Also looking into Victor Canera (thanks Gypsy!) but I haven't seen any tapered baguette work done by him, whereas Leon's site as a bunch.

If any of you have worked with Leon while being out of NY state such as myself, could you please let me know how the process went and advise on any difficulties w/ shipping and sizing? Is this even feasible?! It seems like a lot of work but the ring is a big investment and his craftsmanship so far is the only one that fits my liking.

Thank you!
 
nj12345|1349245105|3278492 said:
Hi Everyone,

I live in Los Angeles but I absolutely love Leon Mege's work - I am trying to make an asscher cut w/ tapered baguettes (Harry Winston/Graff style). I have a 4 ct asscher stone on hold to purchase, so I am just looking to find side stones and setting.

I haven't seen any rings in LA that fit the delicate setting I'm looking for, but I have fallen in love with Leon's work w/ tapered baguettes. The problem is, I'm all the way across the country. Also looking into Victor Canera (thanks Gypsy!) but I haven't seen any tapered baguette work done by him, whereas Leon's site as a bunch.

If any of you have worked with Leon while being out of NY state such as myself, could you please let me know how the process went and advise on any difficulties w/ shipping and sizing? Is this even feasible?! It seems like a lot of work but the ring is a big investment and his craftsmanship so far is the only one that fits my liking.

Thank you!
Click to expand...

I just received my Leon ring last week. I am from Iowa and there was no issues whatsoever. I shipped him my stone USPS which took about 4-5 days. They emailed me immediately after the receieved the stone and gave some detail on what they thought they receieved to make sure they got what I sent. I discussed what I wanted with Leon over the phone a few times and they got to work. Four weeks later they FedEx Priority Overnight shipped the ring back to me. Everything worked out with no issues. I have not given my girlfriend the ring yet so I cannot talk to sizing issues but the shipping part was very easy. The only bad thing I can say about the whole experience is that I was charged over $250 for him to ship the stone back to me.

I would say that it is very feasible to work with Leon from out of state if he is who you want to work with. Every time I called to talk things over with him either he or Rachel answered the phone and talked to me. I even sent him a large Word document with pictures, thoughts, etc. and he talked through that piece by piece with me. In the end I got exactly what I wanted and am very happy to have had the opportunity to work with Leon and his team.
 
Leon's work is amazing ... but so is Victor's. I'd at least speak to him before you discount him.
 
I wouldn't work with Leon with an outside stone. He damaged two of my friend's stones and didn't admit to it, they have to find out through their appraiser/own inspection.

Steven Kirsch used to work with Leon, has a very similar style and is the same building. He's really easy to work with. Has a much better customer service ethic than Leon and does beautiful work. He can be found at www.timelessluxury.net.. I would (and did) use him over Leon personally and can vouch for him.

That said, don't discount Victor, he does lovely work as well.
 
If I lived in LA, I wouldn't have to think twice about having Victor make me a ring like that. Victor made me some platinum halo earrings, and I will tell you that they are perfect. I think Victor sets stones at a more optimal height, whereas Leon tends to set them a little too low.
 
diamondseeker2006|1349318678|3279043 said:
If I lived in LA, I wouldn't have to think twice about having Victor make me a ring like that. Victor made me some platinum halo earrings, and I will tell you that they are perfect. I think Victor sets stones at a more optimal height, whereas Leon tends to set them a little too low.
Click to expand...


I think this is a good point and not one that you would notice easily from the photos on his site. You've probably already searched threads of Leons rings here, so you may have noticed that the height of the stone off the finger comes up often in threads of LM rings. It also seems from reading these threads that other than selecting the basic design element, Leon doesn't allow much input from his clients. LM does very nice work, and you may be confident enough in his ability to give him artistic freedom with your ring, but for me, and again I haven't personally worked with him only observed others experiences, his seeming inability to hear what his clients are asking for have been a turn off. OTOH, I've read many threads lately of people that have been very happy with their experiences with him, so perhaps he has finally taken note? Clearly, I think if you choose LM to design your ring that it will be a beautiful piece, I just think that you should be aware of many of the experiences that others have had with him before making your final decision. If you haven't already, I would read through the experiences that others have had with both VC and SK too. I think it's really really important for there to be clear open communication with your vendor and that you feel you can communicate your wishes and know that they are being heard and discussed. Your project sounds beautiful, I can't wait to see the result!
 
Here's another 3 stone Victor Canera ring w/ the tapered baguettes that you're looking for: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7JbPYvlzls he's also in LA so you can stop by and work w/ him directly. Honestly I think his work is a lot better than Leon's AND on top of that he's a much a nicer/ethical guy.
 
Thank you so much everyone - all great points to consider and I think LM/VC/SK all do wonderful work. I will be getting quotes from them shortly and keep you posted on the process :)
 
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