Would you risk a Leon?

[redfaerythinker]

After the recent thread in the colored stone forum I was wondering. Would you take the risk to own a Leon creation?

 

[Upgradable]

If I had the cash I don''t think it would be much of a risk. So, Yes.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

I would certainly consider him if I wanted anything of mine re-set. PS has more stories of good experiences with him than bad ones.

 

[jstarfireb]

Nope, not after the way he treated a client. I would go to someone with equal skill and artistry, but without the attitude, like Maytal or MWM.

 

[Cehrabehra]

No, but his stuff is too fashion trendy (in its classic sense) so I''d want to push his envelope and I''ve known for a long, long time that things would never work between us lol Bummer though, he really does great work. I wonder how he feels about all of the pricescope hens right about now...

 

[Clio]

Nope, but mainly because his style doesn''t speak to me the way that some other designers do. I see the fine workmanship, but the aesthetics generally leave me cold.

 

[asscherisme]

Date: 10/2/2009 9:22:37 AM
Author:redfaerythinker
After the recent thread in the colored stone forum I was wondering. Would you take the risk to own a Leon creation?

Nope. I will only give my business to companies that value me as a customer

 

[movie zombie]

Date: 10/2/2009 10:17:30 AM
Author: Clio
Nope, but mainly because his style doesn''t speak to me the way that some other designers do. I see the fine workmanship, but the aesthetics generally leave me cold.

i thought it was just me! i agree with Clio so i''d never even consider him.

mz

 

[justginger]

Absolutely. I love his designs, and had already signed my work order with him on the 22nd of this month, so just before the newest "bad Leon experience" thread started. Had I seen it before signing, based on the doting treatment he had given me through the previous month of quotes/revised quotes, I would have still completed the work order. He has been patient (to no end), thorough, and professional with me. He has also been very humorous -- like TGal suggested, I personally see his humor coming through in the "scandalous" email he sent. The last paragraph made me giggle; to me, he was obviously trying to patch things up (without conceding anything, naturally) and his specfic sense of humor was lost on the recipient. That happens and is no one''s fault; it''s a mismatch of personality types. I think his humor attempt not only fell flat, but inflamed the situation further, unforunately.

I should be getting my ring in a month -- I''m keeping my fingers crossed that all of the recent conflict doesn''t rub off on any of his current projects.

 

[asscherisme]

Date: 10/2/2009 10:26:40 AM
Author: movie zombie

Date: 10/2/2009 10:17:30 AM
Author: Clio
Nope, but mainly because his style doesn''t speak to me the way that some other designers do. I see the fine workmanship, but the aesthetics generally leave me cold.

i thought it was just me! i agree with Clio so i''d never even consider him.

mz

I feel the same way.

 

[Circe]

It would depend on the project, honestly - if I had a very specific vision, no. From what I''ve seen, BGD does comparable work with a similar aesthetic, and has a reputation for being kind and accommodating ....

If, though, I just had oodles of money and wanted to be surprised with something beautiful that I knew would fit my standards for workmanship ... maybe.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Would you post a link to the thread?

 

[redfaerythinker]

Colored Stones thread

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/2/2009 11:00:53 AM
Author: Circe
It would depend on the project, honestly - if I had a very specific vision, no. From what I''ve seen, BGD does comparable work with a similar aesthetic, and has a reputation for being kind and accommodating ....

If, though, I just had oodles of money and wanted to be surprised with something beautiful that I knew would fit my standards for workmanship ... maybe.

Ditto to this. Not worth it when there are other companies that do work that is as good.

 

[T L]

Did you ever see this site. I love their designs, very unique, and more affordable than Leon. They can custom design any setting as well from what I understand. I personally like very ornate settings, and I would kill to have their rhapsody setting.

http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/


http://www.knoxjewelers.biz/products/rhapsody

Leon will always have his niche of customers, but he's probably the last person on earth I would go to. I can't work with someone like that for the pricepoint.

 

[E B]

I don''t think so. I''m pretty particular about what I want, and I hear those are the types of orders that go terribly wrong.

 

[TravelingGal]

Well, I did. I''ll write down my thoughts after I get the ring (hopefully sometime next week).

His rings definitely have a certain look to them. But overall, my opinion is that he is the vendor on PS that consistently turns out pieces that I think are perfection from every prong to every curve.

I have a lot more to say, but I''ll wait until next week....

 

[decodelighted]

I would. Hope the right project comes up some time -- very delicate, fanciful, ornate. If I was going for those qualities AND "antique" ... I'd hit up Singlestone though also. And for classic basics or projects that dictate a lot of client input on the design: BGD. If I had extra jewelry $$ around right this instant I'd be very tempted by one of Leon's pink diamond/rose gold bands. He can give me the finger if he wants to! Just give me the bling.

ETA: Can't wait to see your pix TG ... VERY EXCITING!!!

 

[LaurenThePartier]

TGal, can''t wait to see/hear about your experience with Leon. That ring is going to be a stunner!

And re: Leon. I think it''s just a matter of personalities clicking. Given all of the information we''ve learned about him on PS over the years, I would still be open to working with him, given the right project and price point. He is still exceptionally competitive, especially given the product he creates.

If you have a thick skin, I think Leon could be wonderful to work with. If you can consistently read the negative experience threads and think "that''s just Leon being Leon

", you''re probably a good candidate to work with him. I think the good experiences far outweigh the bad ones, but the bad ones almost always have to do with feelings being hurt over Leon''s reaction to a detail that the customer didn''t qualify out. I do think Leon needs to stick to his work orders, and perhaps develop more thorough questionaires.

For technical skill and highly creative designs, though, I''d probably end up going to BGD because I know Brian and Lesley, and I know I click with them.

 

[Fly Girl]

Nope. But this is because his style has never appealed to me in the first place, not because of all of the drama.

However, it is all rather entertaining.

I get a real kick out of the Leon boxes threads.

 

[arjunajane]

Interesting and timely thread (for me).

I am asking myself this question atm - my answer was always "never" - until he had **the** setting for me new on his site.

Tgal, I am very keen to learn of your experience (and of course see your new ring!).

I don''t mean to pry, but in your post you commented on more needing to be said. Are you able to share, for someone who is currently agonizing - is the "more" positive or negative?

If you''d rather wait, I can understand

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/2/2009 11:43:58 AM
Author: arjunajane
Interesting and timely thread (for me).

I am asking myself this question atm - my answer was always ''never'' - until he had **the** setting for me new on his site.

Tgal, I am very keen to learn of your experience (and of course see your new ring!).

I don''t mean to pry, but in your post you commented on more needing to be said. Are you able to share, for someone who is currently agonizing - is the ''more'' positive or negative?

If you''d rather wait, I can understand

No, sure, I''m happy to post a couple of things, and I''ll repost when I have the ring. Obviously right now, the biggest missing link IS the ring.

So far, my experience with Leon has been very positive. And LIMITED. I think 1 longer call (and by longer, I mean 5-10 minutes) and 2 short 2-minute conversations (one of them was to shorten the engraving so he needed to know if that was OK). I think I''ve exchanged only a half dozen emails with him, at most, and those were very short. All were before I had the longer conversation with him about the ring style. Once I had that conversation, we did not talk again until the ring was done.

In that conversation, I essentially said, you got my stone, what do you think? He said 5 stone. I said, I love that idea, have fun! I also said, I like pointy prongs and swooplicious curves. He said, I know what you like. Again, this all took part in the "long" conversation.

I don''t know what the ring looks like. I have an idea of the concept, but now after sending full payment, I have NO idea what the ring REALLY looks like.

That sort of strikes me as crazy. I am probably Leon''s ideal candidate. I''m generally laid back, have no idea what I really want for a ring and am happy to leave it at the hands of the jeweler. I have no vision, but I know I like his stuff. Even after all this, when faced with the task of sending the balance of the payment by CHECK (Leon does not take credit cards in any way, shape or form), I fully admit, I had a moment of, huh? How nuts is this!

Now, if *I* (ms. ok-whatever) thought that, I can''t imagine what the average, normal person would be feeling. I fully admit to now being a bit antsy about seeing the ring. Thoughts are flitting about in my brain. I mean, don''t we all come to PS because we are savvy consumers? What savvy consumer would pay the entire balance for a product she won''t even get a picture of before she pays? Is this smart buying?

However, having been a PS member for many years, I don''t think I''m totally nuts because I''ve probably seen every Leon ring that a PSer has posted. The man has an eye, and when things have gone awry, in many cases it is because the ring owner wanted something done in a certain way (which I think he will do, even if he doesn''t think it is the best way to set the ring). I have an idea of what to expect from him and my experience with him thus far was not out of line with that expectation. I''ve taken notes from PSer experiences and made my decisions based on what I read. I''ll go more into this part when I actually see the ring and do my final review.

Therefore, with my experience with him so far (which again, is without seeing the final product), I would say that if you are any sort of type A person, it may not be a great working relationship. Now, that''s not entirely fair for me to say because I am not type A, so I don''t know how he interacts with those people. I would also say it might be OK if you could work with him IN PERSON.

If you have a solid vision of what you want, he may not be the right guy for you. He''s a designer, not a benchman. I don''t know if I''d recommend to a Pricescope noobie to work with him. If you know a thing or two about Leon, have a good feel about his work and are not a micromanager, then it probably will be a great working relationship. You also have to have a thick skin.

And finally, you have to be prepared to take the risk that the ring might not turn out to be what you want and the man has your money and you have no credit card protection. This is where I sit right now, so stay tuned for next week.

 

[arjunajane]

Date: 10/2/2009 12:11:41 PM
Author: TravelingGal

Date: 10/2/2009 11:43:58 AM

Author: arjunajane

Interesting and timely thread (for me).


I am asking myself this question atm - my answer was always ''never'' - until he had **the** setting for me new on his site.


Tgal, I am very keen to learn of your experience (and of course see your new ring!).


I don''t mean to pry, but in your post you commented on more needing to be said. Are you able to share, for someone who is currently agonizing - is the ''more'' positive or negative?


If you''d rather wait, I can understand

No, sure, I''m happy to post a couple of things, and I''ll repost when I have the ring. Obviously right now, the biggest missing link IS the ring.


So far, my experience with Leon has been very positive. And LIMITED. I think 1 longer call (and by longer, I mean 5-10 minutes) and 2 short 2-minute conversations (one of them was to shorten the engraving so he needed to know if that was OK). I think I''ve exchanged only a half dozen emails with him, at most, and those were very short. All were before I had the longer conversation with him about the ring style. Once I had that conversation, we did not talk again until the ring was done.


In that conversation, I essentially said, you got my stone, what do you think? He said 5 stone. I said, I love that idea, have fun! I also said, I like pointy prongs and swooplicious curves. He said, I know what you like. Again, this all took part in the ''long'' conversation.


I don''t know what the ring looks like. I have an idea of the concept, but now after sending full payment, I have NO idea what the ring REALLY looks like.


That sort of strikes me as crazy. I am probably Leon''s ideal candidate. I''m generally laid back, have no idea what I really want for a ring and am happy to leave it at the hands of the jeweler. I have no vision, but I know I like his stuff. Even after all this, when faced with the task of sending the balance of the payment by CHECK (Leon does not take credit cards in any way, shape or form), I fully admit, I had a moment of, huh? How nuts is this!


Now, if *I* (ms. ok-whatever) thought that, I can''t imagine what the average, normal person would be feeling. I fully admit to now being a bit antsy about seeing the ring. Thoughts are flitting about in my brain. I mean, don''t we all come to PS because we are savvy consumers? What savvy consumer would pay the entire balance for a product she won''t even get a picture of before she pays? Is this smart buying?


However, having been a PS member for many years, I don''t think I''m totally nuts because I''ve probably seen every Leon ring that a PSer has posted. The man has an eye, and when things have gone awry, in many cases it is because the ring owner wanted something done in a certain way (which I think he will do, even if he doesn''t think it is the best way to set the ring). I have an idea of what to expect from him and my experience with him thus far was not out of line with that expectation. I''ve taken notes from PSer experiences and made my decisions based on what I read. I''ll go more into this part when I actually see the ring and do my final review.


Therefore, with my experience with him so far (which again, is without seeing the final product), I would say that if you are any sort of type A person, it may not be a great working relationship. Now, that''s not entirely fair for me to say because I am not type A, so I don''t know how he interacts with those people. I would also say it might be OK if you could work with him IN PERSON.


If you have a solid vision of what you want, he may not be the right guy for you. He''s a designer, not a benchman. I don''t know if I''d recommend to a Pricescope noobie to work with him. If you know a thing or two about Leon, have a good feel about his work and are not a micromanager, then it probably will be a great working relationship. You also have to have a thick skin.


And finally, you have to be prepared to take the risk that the ring might not turn out to be what you want and the man has your money and you have no credit card protection. This is where I sit right now, so stay tuned for next week.

Thankyou Tgal for your thorough answer - I very much appreciate it.
It''s late here, otherwise I would address more of your points - but I do need to say that yes, definitely not many of us could do what you''ve done re. the unknown of it all.

I will be staying eagerly tuned for next week, and thanks again,

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/2/2009 12:21:28 PM
Author: arjunajane


Thankyou Tgal for your thorough answer - I very much appreciate it.
It''s late here, otherwise I would address more of your points - but I do need to say that yes, definitely not many of us could do what you''ve done re. the unknown of it all.

I will be staying eagerly tuned for next week, and thanks again,

Sleep tight AJ!

 

[decodelighted]

Great summary TG. About this part:

Date: 10/2/2009 12:11:41 PM
Author: TravelingGal
you have to be prepared to take the risk that the ring might not turn out to be what you want and the man has your money and you have no credit card protection. This is where I sit right now, so stay tuned for next week.

Some folks get *very* annoyed about people who work this way. Believing its "unfair" or "outrageous". To that I say: he can do what he wants & set his own biz practices. If folks don''t like it: don''t use him. We''re all used to *credit card protection* but when you''re selling something that is hard to get elsewhere -- asking for cash isn''t really that uncommon. And when you''re working in a business that''s so taste-oriented, with 30X nitpicking going on ... if you had the chance to not deal w/all that ... wouldn''t you? I had to laugh at the Flipping Out episode the other night where even Jeff Lewis started backing away from the client who''d picked his yard clean of refuse the outdoor lighting folks had left & presented it on a tray to Jeff to scold him. Ridic! Some folks are not able to be pleased. Stacking the odds in your favor via contract or advance payment or what not is smart, if you''re in demand enough to get away with it.

 

[purrfectpear]

Sure, why not? At most you risk some money or a bruised ego.

I''ve got money, and my ego is impervious

 

[somethingshiny]

I would not consider a Leon just because I prefer some other stylings. I also know what I want and wouldn''t feel comfortable just getting whatever he made. However, I think he is a very talented designer and with talent comes conceit. I think there are specific personalities that would mesh well with Leon and others that just don''t. In choosing a designer, personality should be a factor as well as talent. For those that can just send off a stone and have a wonderful surprise and embrace what he has to offer--perfect. For those of us who can''t--there are always other designers.

 

[tsavvy]

I would use Leon. As others have posted, I think it is a matter of personalities meshing and also being able to leave things in his hands. I asked him for a quote several weeks ago and will be sending him my EC tsavorite (it will either be set in a setting similar to my grandmother''s e-ring or in the same setting that AJ has been eyeing).

In the quote request, I did let him know that as long as the ring is beautiful I could care less whether he sends it to me in a plastic baggie or high-end ring box

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/2/2009 12:26:23 PM
Author: decodelighted
Great summary TG. About this part:

Date: 10/2/2009 12:11:41 PM
Author: TravelingGal
you have to be prepared to take the risk that the ring might not turn out to be what you want and the man has your money and you have no credit card protection. This is where I sit right now, so stay tuned for next week.

Some folks get *very* annoyed about people who work this way. Believing its ''unfair'' or ''outrageous''. To that I say: he can do what he wants & set his own biz practices. If folks don''t like it: don''t use him. We''re all used to *credit card protection* but when you''re selling something that is hard to get elsewhere -- asking for cash isn''t really that uncommon. And when you''re working in a business that''s so taste-oriented, with 30X nitpicking going on ... if you had the chance to not deal w/all that ... wouldn''t you? I had to laugh at the Flipping Out episode the other night where even Jeff Lewis started backing away from the client who''d picked his yard clean of refuse the outdoor lighting folks had left & presented it on a tray to Jeff to scold him. Ridic! Some folks are not able to be pleased. Stacking the odds in your favor via contract or advance payment or what not is smart, if you''re in demand enough to get away with it.

And that''s exactly it Deco, there are quite a few iffy reviews on him over the years and yet still people continue to use him. Because in the end, they WANT his product. And that''s because his product is consistently beautiful.

If I could get away with it, I''d do it too. Is it the most consumer friendly policy? Absolutely not. But he makes this very clear on his website, so you need to do your research about his policies beforehand.

That being said, it WILL cause any normal rational person to be nervous. His policy is not even to send a photo when the ring is done! You can pay $75 to have them done. You have no idea what is going on during the process and we all also know that Leon doesn''t actually make the ring himself. I asked about this and he laughed and said, when you want to buy a Ford, you don''t expect Ford to actually make it himself. For many people, I think BGD, WF, ERD etc works so much better because you get to see CADs and the process.

 

[TravelingGal]

Date: 10/2/2009 12:38:08 PM
Author: tsavvy
I would use Leon. As others have posted, I think it is a matter of personalities meshing and also being able to leave things in his hands. I asked him for a quote several weeks ago and will be sending him my EC tsavorite (it will either be set in a setting similar to my grandmother''s e-ring or in the same setting that AJ has been eyeing).

In the quote request, I did let him know that as long as the ring is beautiful I could care less whether he sends it to me in a plastic baggie or high-end ring box

Which setting is that?