Wow, Can Leon be Any More Unprofessional?

[Catmom]

Taken from his FB page this morning:

Cold Fusion™ halo ring, featuring 3.02 carat True Antique™ cushion diamond.
The most amazing and beautiful design one can imagine using our own F/VS1 True Antique™ cushion diamond as a center piece. This stone has nothing to do with bogus vintage cushion diamonds mostly peddled around certain areas of Long Island. This superbly cut stone is a newly faceted gem. Fashioned from pristine Canadian rough by our master diamond cutters Froim and his son Benya it comes with a GIA certificate and a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Leon Mege.

Can someone explain to me how his brand new "True Antique" cushion is any less bogus from Jon's new "August Vintage" cushion? I know there's no love lost between these two but this is just bad business in my opinion.

 

[luv2sparkle]

Wow, that is rude. No difference I could see. His is a newly cut stone. Sometimes I think Leon speaks (types) without thinking.That comment seems like it comes from deep jealousy.

 

[Harpertoo]

At least it's just FB. I would think he could actually lose business putting that verbiage in an actual ad.
I don't think anyone really appreciates that type of advertising...outside of politics, that is...

 

[rosetta]

Yes, he probably can.

He has absolutely no manners or class.

 

[Madam Bijoux]

Do we know whether he wrote it himself, or did someone he hired write it without getting his OK first? He probably did write it himself if it was on his own FB page.

 

[Catmom]

Do we know whether he wrote it himself, or did someone he hired write it without getting his OK first? He probably did write it himself if it was on his own FB page.

I don't know if he wrote it himself but from what I've heard about him it sure sounds like something he would say. It just struck me as so very wrong.

 

[VRBeauty]

Did you leave a comment, perchance?

 

[JGator]

When Leon set my AVC back in Sep 2009, he said it was a beautiful stone! Maybe he's gotten jealous over the years!

 

[marymm]

I guess I am the only one who does not view that bolded sentence as "unprofessional" or "bad business" - and I would tend to guess there are many more potential customers who will choose to use Leon's company based on or regardless of that one sentence as may be turned off by it.

Technically, the August Vintage Cushion diamonds are in fact bogus vintage diamonds (i.e, not genuine vintage diamonds). But then again, technically, Leon's "True Antique" cushions are also bogus antique diamonds (i.e., not genuine antique diamonds).

Would I myself choose that language? No. But do I see Leon's company as a veritable showcase of both his personality and his talent? Yes, I do. And I also consider challenging shout-outs, so to speak, to business competitors part and parcel of the advertising/marketing game.

 

[VRBeauty]

But to answer your question, that is very unprofessional. And unfortunately, not that surprising considering that it's Leon Mege.

 

[Laila619]

Wow, that is rude. No difference I could see. His is a newly cut stone. Sometimes I think Leon speaks (types) without thinking.That comment seems like it comes from deep jealousy.

I can't help but think that's probably the case, too.

Like it or not, those "bogus vintage cushions" are incredibly popular and sell fast. He probably hates that.

 

[Sparklelu]

Wow I do think it is unprofessional and he in fact is creating a bogus stone. Especially if you look at the definitions & synonyms. I think the man is very jealous.

bo·gus adjective \ˈbō-gəs\

Definition of BOGUS

: not genuine : counterfeit, sham
— bo·gus·ly adverb
— bo·gus·ness noun

Examples of BOGUS

It was just a bogus claim.
The evidence was completely bogus.

Synonyms
artificial, imitation, dummy, ersatz, factitious, fake, false, faux, imitative, man-made, mimic, mock, pretend, sham, simulated, substitute, synthetic
Antonyms
genuine, natural, real
Related Words
cultured, manufactured, process; unauthentic; adulterated, designer, doctored, engineered, fudged, juggled, manipulated, tampered (with); concocted, fabricated; counterfeit, deceptive, forged, fraudulent, misleading, phony (also phoney); affected, brummagem, feigned, pinchbeck, pseudo, spurious
Near Antonyms
authentic, bona fide, legitimate, true; premium, quality, valuable; pure, unadulterated

 

[Sparklelu]

I guess he calls his stone genuine because he put in a new facet pattern? But isn't that what GOG did refine the best of vintage stones and made it better?

 

[ForteKitty]

You guys are playing right into his hands. That type of post gets reactions, and now it's on PS. Good reaction, bad reaction... it doesn't matter. I didn't even know he started cutting his own old cushions, but now everyone on PS knows!

 

[ForteKitty]

Just took a better look on his site. Gotta say, they are quite beautiful. But I still prefer the pattern of my real old cushion.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

It certainly is a startling comment. However, I agree with Marianne, in that this is a competive industry, when one individual appears to have beaten all others to appeal to a customer who wants the look of vintage. We saw how upset GOG was when someone else deemed to cut a vintGE STONE. It does seem to be the popular thing to do.


I thought DBL was also too critical of GOG, but it looks like they all succumbed to developing their own cuts. I thought, and maybe still do, that DBL is jealous of others. I find him ruder than Leon, if that is possible. They are 2 of a kind.

Just free market competition at its worst.


Annette

 

[Malbec54]

Taken from his FB page this morning:

Cold Fusion™ halo ring, featuring 3.02 carat True Antique™ cushion diamond.
The most amazing and beautiful design one can imagine using our own F/VS1 True Antique™ cushion diamond as a center piece. This stone has nothing to do with bogus vintage cushion diamonds mostly peddled around certain areas of Long Island. This superbly cut stone is a newly faceted gem. Fashioned from pristine Canadian rough by our master diamond cutters Froim and his son Benya it comes with a GIA certificate and a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Leon Mege.

Can someone explain to me how his brand new "True Antique" cushion is any less bogus from Jon's new "August Vintage" cushion? I know there's no love lost between these two but this is just bad business in my opinion.

YIKES! What makes his blurb unprofessional is that he specifies "Long Island" which is a direct insult to those doing business in that area. "Kill them with kindness ---you can draw more bees with honey..." maybe LM can re-think his marketing strategy.

 

[Catmom]

Did you leave a comment, perchance?

What makes you ask?

 

[aviastar]

At least it's just FB. I would think he could actually lose business putting that verbiage in an actual ad.
I don't think anyone really appreciates that type of advertising...outside of politics, that is...

Oh, Facebook IS a real ad...print that in a newspaper and maybe half the people reading even see it before they throw it out the next day, put it on Facebook and hundreds of people have seen it within an hour, it's shared, screen captured, and here we are on a completely different site already talking about it.

 

[amc80]

Yes, he probably can.

He has absolutely no manners or class.

I spoke to him once on the phone and he was so rude. I don't care how nice his work is, I don't reward rudeness with my money.

 

[ame]

Wow. That's disgusting. He's not someone I would choose to patronize anyway, just from the two interactions we've had when I tried to get pricing from him, but he's certainly not helping himself with that posting. He's such an elitist, and with no good reason to be one.

 

[rosetta]

Yes, he probably can.

He has absolutely no manners or class.

I spoke to him once on the phone and he was so rude. I don't care how nice his work is, I don't reward rudeness with my money.

I think it's a real shame. I think his work is exquisite, but I personally did not buy at least 2 pieces I loved from his collection, I prevented my husband from buying from his micropave site once too. I also didn't recommend him to three of my friends who took their business to other jewellers.

Maybe one day I might buy from his ready to wear collection, but I wouldn't want the stress of dealing with him for custom work, where I feel excellent service and etiquette is just as important to me as the completed piece.

 

[kenny]

You guys are playing right into his hands. That type of post gets reactions, and now it's on PS. Good reaction, bad reaction... it doesn't matter. I didn't even know he started cutting his own old cushions, but now everyone on PS knows!

You make a good point.
They say the only bad publicity is no publicity.

But ... I think about whom he sells to.
As a group are likely to be more educated, mature and wealthy.
Leon doing bad things to get attention is not like Lady Gaga or Madonna doing something naughty to get attention.
Their customers expect such behavior.

I think overall LM is loosing more sales than he's gaining by behaving like a bully on a playground.
I get consulted a lot on diamonds and jewelry and I make a point of turning customers away from LM and that other guy.
Yes it is bias, but bias is good when it is the result of seeing year after year of unprofessional behavior.

 

[Laila619]

Wow. That's disgusting. He's not someone I would choose to patronize anyway, just from the two interactions we've had when I tried to get pricing from him, but he's certainly not helping himself with that posting. He's such an elitist, and with no good reason to be one.

Yeah, that's the ironic part--well-bred people who come from wealth tend to have manners and class (at least in public). He's just flat-out rude.

 

[Harpertoo]

At least it's just FB. I would think he could actually lose business putting that verbiage in an actual ad.
I don't think anyone really appreciates that type of advertising...outside of politics, that is...

Oh, Facebook IS a real ad...print that in a newspaper and maybe half the people reading even see it before they throw it out the next day, put it on Facebook and hundreds of people have seen it within an hour, it's shared, screen captured, and here we are on a completely different site already talking about it.

I just think expectations are quite low on FB.
I doubt we'll see that quote on a banner ad run on PS.

 

[kenny]

He is one of the advertisers here on PS.
Do you think he'd show his face at this summers PS party in Las Vegas?

 

[cygnet]

I have to say, I'm actually kind of upset about this. I understand that not everyone "gets" Leon's brand of humor (I personally think he's pretty funny most of the time) but I don't even find this funny in the least-- it's just flat out mean and hypocritical. I get that by riling people up, he's just getting more attention, but I agree with what Kenny said about this not working with his normal demographic.

Those of you who have been following my ring ordeal may know that I was strongly considering having Leon do my Octavia reset. I spoke with Leon several times and I found him to be very polite, charming and eager to make me happy. I have been a huge fan of Leon's for several years and I have always wanted a piece from his bench. I asked him what he thought of the Octavia cut and he told me that he didn't particularly feel that it was an improvement over the elegance of the standard asscher, but that he thought my stone was very pretty and he'd be happy to work with it. I don't necessarily disagree with him, but that's because I think that octavias and generic asschers are quite different in appearance and personality anyway-- it's like comparing apples to oranges.

Anyway, I am a loyal customer of GOG and I don't think I can tolerate working with a jeweler who would say such things publicly. I know that this business has some pretty serious rivalries and I can't expect everyone to get along, but I personally think that comment was unprofessional and uncalled for. I hate to say this but I think I will have to scratch LM off my list after this-- no one gets my money after publicly trashing GOG like that. If he had some valid critique and said it respectfully, I might be more tolerant, but what he said was just flat out hypocritical. His cushions are no more true antique than GOG's are real vintage. For me, that was over the line.

 

[04diamond<3]

You guys are playing right into his hands. That type of post gets reactions, and now it's on PS. Good reaction, bad reaction... it doesn't matter. I didn't even know he started cutting his own old cushions, but now everyone on PS knows!

I completely agree with this!! Attention is attention. I didn't know he cut old cushions either and due to his post (which I also saw on facebook) and this thread, I now know. Not to mention, that others that see this will compare his stones, prices and things to GOG's cuts...

 

[rubyshoes]

Absolutely obnoxious. I've never bought anything from him and don't intend to. I don't think these people realize or understand that customers have loooooong memories and if they are turned off by someone's behavior, they will NOT do business with them. Another case in point - the Wildfish guy who typed the phrase "those PS psychopaths". Think I'll ever give him a dollar? Nope. Never!

There are plenty of super jewelers out there who sell a fabulous product and are decent human beings who treat customers and rival businesses with respect. Also what is this envy for other people's wares? What is Leon, 10?

In defense of DBL, I will say that when I bought my pink Argyle FCD from Leibish and sent it to DBL to set into a double halo, David called the stone beautiful, complimented my choice and didn't so much as utter the sentence that his own company sells pink FCDs. I know a lot of PSers dislike him (and that's fine), but in every interaction I've had with him, he's been very gracious.

Actually all the vendors I've done business with (DBL, Leibish, GOG, WF, Sally) have been wonderful. I'd be a fool to dump them and go with the likes of these other types.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I don't agree with the notion that any attention is good attention. Leon mege made a mistake here. He posted it to cause damage to another dealer. Instead he has exposed himself to declarations of "I wouldn't use Leon" no matter what. He'll remove it once he gets wind of the criticism. It will back fire.


Annette