My Leon Mege Solitaire

[PGTips]

Hi Everyone -

Thank you all so much for your help in getting my dream engagement ring - from learning about diamonds, selecting the diamond, then finding just the right setting!

When I saw Harlowqueen''s beautiful Harry Winston Asscher solitaire ring on Pricescope, I was in love. But I knew we could never afford a Harry Winston, so I put my thinking cap on. I searched for just the right asscher diamond, had a similar setting to Harlowqueen''s made for me by Leon Mege, and now I feel like I have my own version of a "Harry Winston" solitaire. Yay!

I finally figured out my camera, so I thought I''d post some pictures of my ring. Sorry, I went a little overboard with the pics...

 

[PGTips]

side view

 

[PGTips]

another side view

 

[PGTips]

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[PGTips]

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[PGTips]

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[PGTips]

also functions as a lovely tiara...

 

[valeria101]

Who said basket settings are 'simple' matter?

Good to have a great example at hand!

Wow!

 

[cutey TT]

Hi PGTips.

I am a total newbie, but am interested in one day potentially working with Leon to recreate a HW-esque 3-stone ring. Anyway, can you recap your process? Did you have Leon source your asscher for you or did you buy that elsewhere? Do you live in NY...so were you able to work with Leon in person or was the work done remotely? Lastly, how long did the project take?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[rms]

Beautiful! I love the tiara pic!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Love the asscher and I love the double prongs.

 

[PGTips]

Date: 10/26/2005 12:17:09 PM
Author: cutey TT
Hi PGTips.


I am a total newbie, but am interested in one day potentially working with Leon to recreate a HW-esque 3-stone ring. Anyway, can you recap your process? Did you have Leon source your asscher for you or did you buy that elsewhere? Do you live in NY...so were you able to work with Leon in person or was the work done remotely? Lastly, how long did the project take?


Thanks for all your help!

Hi Cutey TT -

Welcome to Pricescope. I''m not much of a veteran here, myself, but I''d be happy to answer your questions.

1) I found the Asscher on my own. We used Pricescope for this. You can do a search on the home page of Pricescope for the exact specifications (or range) you are looking for in a diamond. Then, you''ll get results with diamonds from all different vendors that have a good reputation with Pricescope. That''s what I did and found a vendor that I later bought my diamond from.

2) No, I do not live in NY. I actually live over in England! So, unfortunately I was not able to go to Leon''s office and look at his work. But, Leon has such a great reputation and I''d read so many positive things about his work and seen examples of it on Pricescope, that I knew I could trust him and his work.

3) Hmm... its hard to exactly tell you how long everything took. I mean, it was a whole process for me. I had to first become educated about diamonds. You can spend as little or as much time as you want on this part. I suppose I spent a couple months reading posts, looking at pictures, going to vendors sites, etc. Just to learn about what to look for in a diamond. It was very intimidating at first, but in the end, we felt very confident with our diamond purchase. After a few weeks of looking for diamonds through online vendors, we found "the one." If I can offer you one important tip, it would be that you get your diamond independently appraised. That means you find an appraiser that is unassociated with the diamond seller and have the diamond shipped to the the appraiser so that they can appraise it for you. This is so important, and if you look in the "RockyTalky" section, you''ll see one of my posts in there where I talk about a small screw up by my diamond seller. Without the appraisal I had done, my situation could have really caused me a lot of distress. I chose an appraiser off of Pricescope (Richard Sherwood), but you can find other, equally reputable appraisers through this site as well.

So, anyway, once we found a diamond we thought we might like, we had it shipped to an appraiser to have it throroughly checked out. Richard gave it the thumbs up and valued the diamond at a higher price than what the seller was asking, so we went ahead and bought it. Then we had the diamond shipped off from the appraiser to Leon Mege. I had emailed Leon and called him to find out about having him make my setting. I worried that his prices would be far too high for our budget. I knew he did a lot of "Harry Winston-type" settings, so I really wanted him to do my ring. He does my exact style for a lot of people, so I''m not saying mine was some original creation on his part, though I did specify the width of the bands that I wanted, etc. Surprisingly his prices were not too bad. I''d been quoted much higher prices by no-name jewelers for the same style of ring. At least I''d seen a ring that Leon had made in my style, so I knew he was capable of making what I was looking for. I think the whole process of having Leon make my ring took about eight weeks. I can''t recall exactly.

I hope this helps you a little. Pricescope is such a helpful, welcoming community. I would recommend posting any diamond/ring related questions you have here on Pricescope. Everyone is always more than happy to help. Good luck!

 

[Kaleigh]

I''m in love with your ring PGTips!!! I especially like the double claw prongs. Beautiful asscher!!

 

[Shay37]

Absolutely classic, and lovely. Plenty of bling doesn''t hurt either.

Beautiful ring.

shay

 

[widget]

Congratulations, PGTips!!!! It''s just perfect!

And that asscher!!!

Incredible!

Well done!

widget

 

[bling*diva*]

~~When I saw your ring, the first person that came to mind was Harlow Queen!!! It looks just like her ring, and I just love the soft flowing lines of a solitaire mixed with the classiness of an Asscher! It''s beautiful!!!

 

[KristyDarling]

I love it! So graceful and elegant! Do you have specs on that gorgeous stone? Also, what are the widths of your bands?

Congratulations!

 

[lumpkin]

What a beautiful asscher. The prongs are beautiful! You have quite a keeper.

 

[PGTips]

Date: 10/26/2005 3:03:58 PM
Author: KristyDarling
I love it! So graceful and elegant! Do you have specs on that gorgeous stone? Also, what are the widths of your bands?


Congratulations!

Thank you guys for your compliments. There are so many gorgeous rings on this site and mine is just a simple solitaire. I really love the simplicity of it. The platinum has already taken a bit of a beating, though. Looking at these pictures so close up, I see it is now all scratched up! Guess I shouldn''t wear it for gardening and digging in the dirt!! Oh well...

The specs on the diamond are:

1.65 carat Asscher cut
Color: I/J (EGL says I, Richard Sherwood says J... Richard is probably the more reputable judge)
Clarity: VS2

The platinum bands are about 1.75mm each. I wanted them really thin and Leon tapered them a little in the front. My ring size is 7.5, so I think that makes the diamond look a lot smaller.

 

[flutterby]

What a gorgeous ring! You are so lucky to have a leon mege ring, its every girls dream isnt it? I LOVE the setting, and i usually am attracted to pave but that ring...its just perfect. Wear it in health and happiness!

 

[BrightSpot]

Wow, I adore your ring! The setting is just lovely (the double prongs are yummy!) & that asscher...amazing!

 

[elepri]

Very beautiful and classic. Cool dog too!

 

[AndyRosse]

Wow!!! It''s absolutely stunning!!!

And I just adore the tiara pic

hehe!!

 

[Leila]

Congratulations PGTips! It looks beautiful and I love the claw prongs!

 

[Sundial]

There is nothing simple about this solitaire - it is just classy and elegant! Very very pretty!!!

 

[jadeleaves]

Love the double claws/prongs!

Think I read somewhere that you''re having some issues with not getting the certificate - hope that gets resolved soon!

 

[Jelly]

Beautiful ring!!

 

[icekid]

classic and stunning... absolutely love it!

 

[CoutureFemme]

what a beautiful set! I love how perfect the e-ring and w-band look together