My PS Gift: FINALLY! My Amelia ring. Pad by Richard Wise, Setting by Leon Mege.

[TravelingGal]

OK, reviews and comments first. If you don’t have the energy to read, wait a few minutes and I’ll have the pics up.

First, I would like to thank Andrey and Ali for their very generous Pricescope gift. PS is a big part of my daily work day (you all are my water cooler!) so to have this special ring include the sentiments of this wonderful community makes it that much more of a treasure to me.

I would also like to give a shout out to those who helped me in my pad search, they know who they are because I went through two other pads before Richard sourced this one. They know who they are…the hunt had been going on since December 2008!

And of course, Richard Wise, who did right by me by sourcing me this beautiful stone and being such a gentleman about it. I can’t say enough about him, he is such an amazing resource – I would not hesitate to work with him again, but it may have to wait until I have another kid (and that unfortunately at this point seems very unlikely.)

The thread about the stone is here

The PS gift is given to be used with feature PS vendors. So it was a no brainer for me to go with Leon Mege. And as to that…I think that deserves its own post.

 

[violet3]

aaaaahhhh- can''t wait to see it TG!

 

[Allison D.]

CEASE!

PHOTOS...............NOW!

 

[packrat]

F5 F5 F5

 

[Novel]

The waiting! The wanting! The F5-ing!

 

[Allison D.]

Ok, she''s just being mean and cruel now.....LOL

 

[TravelingGal]

Amelia was conceived and born because we just threw caution to the wind – and this ring was created in sort of the same spirit.

This is my experience with Leon (some of it copied from the "Would you risk a Leon?" thread.) I really want to stress that because this is MY experience, it does not discount the experience that others have had, should that experience have been less than stellar.

My experience with Leon was very positive, and as I said, extremely 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.

When came time to pay the balance without knowing what the ring looked like (never a CAD, photo or anything else) I got a case of the YIKES. Sending money without knowing what I was getting?

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 was pretty antsy about wanting to see the ring. 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 had an idea of what to expect from him and my experience with him was not out of line with that expectation. I''ve taken notes from PSer experiences and made my decisions based on what I read.

Probably the biggest one was Ellen’s aqua. I so appreciate many of the long time PSers (and short timers too, of course) sharing their Leon stories because I can paint a somewhat accurate picture of how he might act in certain scenarios. With Ellen’s story, I made note not to ever send him a stone under 9 on the mohs scale!

But the ring itself convinced that that I should not cut Leon out of the picture because no other PS featured vendor (meaning the list I got to choose from for the generous PS gift) on here has consistently made me gasp and think, “Wow, that is just perfection.” I felt comfortable sending a sapphire (9 on mohs), but an aqua? I don’t think Ellen was making up her story (and in fact her review was very fair and objective, IMHO), so I took note and had to decide if I was comfortable working with Leon with what I had. There many other stories I read where I took notes on what might work, and what might not. I think in doing so, I was able to figure out a way to work with Leon that would not result in any issues –mainly, to let him do what he wants and have no expectations. Hahaha.

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 probably have to have a thicker skin.

Would I work with Leon again? Absolutely. MY experience was that he was a gentleman and easy to work with. He turned out the product I knew he would. Rachael was also easy to work with. I called him today to thank him and he did make a point of thanking me to design the way he thought would look best. And of course, that conversation was also short, hee hee.

All that being said, this is a CUSTOM ring and it’s been louped and checked out in macro photos. There IS something “wrong” with the ring. I’ll post the photos and will say more about that after they are posted…

 

[AprilBaby]

Patiently waiting....NOT!

 

[geckodani]

Okay lady... I read the entire post about Leon... plenty of time to get a pic uploaded.

ETA: I've never hit F5 so many times in my life.

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 10/9/2009 2:19:48 PM
Author: TravelingGal

He turned out the product I knew he would.

It would be nice if we could SEE it! LOL

C'mon...............stop stalling, missy!

ETA: Kidding aside, I'm sure it's beautiful.

 

[TravelingGal]

OK, since pictures are worth a 1000 words...

Let me at least just say:

A) I am not good at glamour shots like some of you so I didn''t bother. This is strictly to see the ring.
B) Pads are horrible horrible horrible terrible awful HORRIBLE at being photographed.

The ring is SO delicate. Someone said (I think it was Coati) that the pad was like a ballerina slipper. And it is definitely a delicate ballerina ring. It''s been said many times before but I can''t do it justice, honest.

None of the photos have been retouched. Shot with a Canon SD 850IS.

Ring size, 5.75. Platinum. Pad: 1.52 carats.

First up, THE BOX.

 

[TravelingGal]

Side profile, the pad has personality for sure.

 

[Allison D.]

Date: 10/9/2009 2:26:16 PM
Author: TravelingGal
Side profile, the pad has personality for sure.

Ohhhhhhhhh - look at that scrumptious color!

 

[packrat]

While we're waiting..this is 2 times now I've had to post this. We're an impatient bunch. open me in new window haha

ETA: ooo I'm late. Never mind, don't click me just look at the pictures!

 

[AprilBaby]

YUMMY!

 

[TravelingGal]

And here she is. Just your average Leon 5 stone setting (PS has seen it, done it, nothing new) but it works for this stone.

 

[Indylady]

Packrat, you''re hilarious!

 

[Allison D.]

I absolutely LOVE it......knew I would.

TGal, it's just perfect. It features the pad as the star of the show, and it's wonderfully delicate, which perfectly complements the delicate feel of the color of the stone.

Amelia's gonna be a VERY lucky girl to wear this someday!

 

[Indylady]

T-gal, its gorgeous!!

 

[LittleLovely]

A box? I thought Leon only gave baggies?

Beautiful color! More, please!

 

[canada_ham]

Date: 10/9/2009 2:26:58 PM
Author: packrat
While we''re waiting..this is 2 times now I''ve had to post this. We''re an impatient bunch. open me in new window haha

LOL love the video, very fitting

can''t wait to see more pictures!

 

[AprilBaby]

HOLY CRAP! That is STUNNING!!!!!

 

[geckodani]

WOAH. That''s fantastic. The pad just smacks you in the face. The sidestones just frame it beautifully.

 

[packrat]

Oooo it''s gorgeous Tgal!!!

 

[TravelingGal]

In plain ole indoor lighting (gray day outside, light coming in).

 

[MonkeyPie]

First, it looks GREAT Tgal! It''s very dainty, and those half-moons are just sparkly and perfect. Your pad looks downright delicious.

Second, I am SO surprised you got a box! And it''s a COOL box no less!

And I admit...I am itching to see what is "wrong" with it...cause it looks great to my eyes.

 

[cushioncutnut]

GASP! CHOKE! IT Is GAWWGEOUS!! ....I didn''t look really hard.... but what is wrong with it??

Everything looks so RIGHT to me!!!!!!!!

 

[Allison D.]

Gee, I hope you did a hand shot, too.

 

[LittleLovely]

Hand shots! Oh please, oh please! It''s sooo lovely!

 

[Kismet]

I don''t know what you''re talking about, it doesn''t look ''MEH'' at all. It''s gorgeous!