The History of Michael M: Exploring the Brand's Bridal and Fine Jewelry Collections

The fine jewelry market is often split between centuries-old heritage names and modern, trend-led designers. Michael M occupies the space in between. Many recognize it for its bridal sector, particularly its signature micro-pavé engagement rings- but viewing the brand solely through a bridal lens misses the bigger picture. Michael M is a full-scale design house that manufactures fashion jewelry with the same technical precision and architectural focus as its wedding pieces.

The Michael M story started in 2008, but the real groundwork was laid years earlier at a workbench in Los Angeles. That’s where Michael Meksian spent decades mastering the grueling, precise work of casting gold and setting diamonds by hand. Over the years, he watched the jewelry industry completely change, trading traditional craft for cheap, fast assembly lines. Jewelry brands were cutting corners to save money, making settings lighter, thinning out the bands, and using generic, pre-made parts. Instead of joining that race to the bottom, he and his son, Peter, teamed up to do the exact opposite, building a workshop focused entirely on handmade quality. Starting a business during an economic recession was a risky bet. Still, they relied on the principle that heavy metalwork, distinct layouts, and meticulous bench craft would always appeal to collectors who treat fine jewelry as a durable material asset.

It’s important to note that while almost every major jewelry competitor gradually moved its production overseas to cut costs, the Meksian family chose to build a cutting-edge studio in Los Angeles where every single piece is created under one roof. For them, keeping everything local was the only practical way to run a business without losing control of its standards. By putting its CAD designers, casting experts, diamond setters, and polishers in the exact same room, no ring could ever leave the building without meeting the family’s strict demands for daily durability.

From the very beginning, Michael and Peter knew that creating a lasting legacy required being just steadfast in their approach to raw materials as they were about their bench work. Today’s jewelry collectors naturally expect transparency regarding the environmental impact of their pieces, and Michael M built that accountability right into its foundry. Instead of relying on newly mined ore, the studio casts its jewelry using clean, reclaimed and recycled precious metals, using dense platinum and rich 18-karat gold. These materials drastically reduce the facility's carbon footprint. The company is just as demanding when it comes to its gemstones. Every single diamond it uses, from the smallest pavé accent to a massive center stone, is entirely conflict-free and ethically sourced under the Kimberley Process.

Because the brand refused to cut corners on metal weight or its high quality gem setting back in 2008, it’s able to back its Los Angeles manufacturing with a genuine lifetime warranty today. The company has so much confidence in the structural integrity of its work that it stands behind every piece indefinitely, treating fine jewelry as a true multi-generational investment. If a ring ever needs a tune-up or general maintenance over the decades, it goes right back to the exact same California workshop to be serviced by the very same craftsmen who built it in the first place.

On a technical level, the breakthrough that defined the brand’s early identity was its approach to the U-set diamond technique. Traditional pavé settings require jewelers to drill small holes into the band and secure diamonds using tiny metal beads. While this method holds the stones securely, the surrounding metal can limit the amount of light reaching the diamonds. MICHAEL M developed a different approach, using a specialized setting that exposes more of each stone.

The U-set technique involves carefully removing metal from underneath and between each diamond, creating a smooth U-shaped opening. This approach has several distinctive characteristics:

• Increased light exposure: By exposing the sides and lower angles of each diamond, the setting allows light to reach the stones from additional directions, enhancing their brilliance.
• Reduced visible metal: Removing excess gold or platinum creates the appearance of a continuous line of diamonds, with less metal visible between individual stones.
• Precise stone placement: Each opening must be carefully shaped to maintain the security of the diamonds while minimizing the amount of surrounding metal.

The result is a setting that emphasizes the diamonds themselves, creating a continuous appearance of brilliance across the jewelry.

As MICHAEL M expanded its bridal jewelry offerings, the brand developed distinct collections that reflect different approaches to engagement ring design. From classic silhouettes with intricate diamond details to more contemporary settings, each collection offers its own interpretation of bridal jewelry. Crown, Montage, and Monarch are three of the brand’s most recognized collections, highlighting the variety of designs and diamond-setting techniques found throughout MICHAEL M’s bridal jewelry.

The Crown collection brings intricate diamond detailing to traditional engagement ring silhouettes. Known for its elevated settings and distinctive hidden halos, Crown incorporates carefully placed accent diamonds that add dimension and brilliance from multiple angles. These details are particularly noticeable when viewing the ring from the side, where the setting reveals decorative elements beneath the center stone. The collection balances classic proportions with subtle architectural features, creating designs that feel both traditional and contemporary.

Michael M eventually brought its workshop knowledge over into everyday fashion jewelry by taking the same signature metalwork and bright U-set diamonds from its bridal lines and using it to build a full collection of rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. The fashion lineup is styled for regular wear but built just as tough as the brand’s engagement rings. The necklaces run from clean diamond bar pendants to sharp geometric shapes on sturdy chains. For earrings, the brand makes high-sparkle U-set studs alongside drop earrings and diamond hoops designed for daily comfort. The company’s bracelets include fluid tennis links and solid bangles made specifically for stacking. The Link Collection is a great example of this style. It takes classic chain patterns and reworks them with sharp angles, heavy gold weights, and pavé diamonds set into the links.

Finally, the Michael M High Jewelry collection is where the Los Angeles workshop really shows off what it can do. In this tier, the Meksian family focuses entirely on sourcing rare, one-of-a-kind gemstones, like flawless stones and vivid, natural colored diamonds, along with hand-building custom frameworks around them. These projects take hundreds of hours of manual benchwork, proving that the old-school manufacturing standards Michael and Peter started with in 2008 can compete with bespoke jewelry anywhere in the world.