Jewelry brands like Michael M are holding steady amid tariff whiplash and not increasing prices
Michael M, a luxury jewelry brand known for its engagement rings and other wedding jewelry, says it’s holding steady on prices even as a small part of its supply chain grapples with tariffs.
Michael M is primarily based in the U.S. and is therefore immune from most of today’s import tariffs. The company assembles the majority of its jewelry at an 18,000-square-foot facility in California. It also gets most of its materials, including diamonds and recycled gold, from U.S. suppliers. These diamonds, however, originally come from other countries and are therefore subject to tariffs when they first enter the U.S.
The company also works with a variety of suppliers abroad. Michael M gets its jewelry backings from Italy, and it runs a manufacturing facility in Armenia that accounts for about 5% of its output. It also gets its boxes and bags from suppliers in India. Imports from Italy, Armenia and India are all subject to a 10% “universal tariff” that the U.S. enacted in April. However, rates could go up in the coming months, under the terms of U.S. President Donald Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs.” The countries where diamonds come from originally could see hikes, too, affecting their final dollar amount.
Still, Michael M’s CEO, Peter Meksian, told Modern Retail that tariffs haven’t been “significant enough” for the brand to raise prices. “As of right now, we’ve had no increased costs in our diamonds, and whatever we do outsource from overseas is not significant enough that it’s made a difference in our costs to where we have to raise our prices,” he said. “Our plan is to stay grounded.”
Founded in 2008, Michael M was created by a father (Michael) and son (Peter). Michael M designs its pieces in Los Angeles, and its jewelry comes with a personalized serial number and a certificate of authenticity. The brand sells on its website, as well as via participating jewelers across the U.S., such as Robbins Brothers and Lee Michaels. Its jewelry ranges from a few hundred dollars to more than $100,000.
On April 9, Michael M sent an email to its vendors, stating that “tariffs won’t touch Michael M.” “Because we handcraft our jewelry in-house at our Burbank, California facility, our supply chain has not been disrupted,” the message said. “While others in the industry scramble to raise prices or rework their sourcing strategies, nothing changes here. Our retail partners can continue placing replenishment orders with total confidence.”
The jewelry industry, as a whole, has been rocked by tariffs on everything from gems to aluminum clasps. Last week, Pandora, which is based in Denmark, warned of significant price increases across the jewelry industry if Trump’s proposed tariff hikes come into play. The World Diamond Council is currently working on an appeal to the U.S. government regarding a tariff exemption for the diamond industry. Michael M, for its part, said its sales are up 50% over the last few months.
Still, many jewelers aren’t taking immediate action regarding the tariffs. A recent survey of companies in the diamond and jewelry trade, conducted by Rapoport, found that only 10% of respondents said they had made changes in their businesses, like changing suppliers, to accommodate any potential fallout from tariffs. Forty percent noted that they had not yet made changes, but were planning to, while 50% said they did not expect to make any adjustments due to tariffs.
Many jewelers have the majority of their supply chains in Asia, especially China, Thailand, Vietnam and India. The tariffs fallout has been “very tough” on the industry at large, but the situation has been “great for Michael M” since it primarily sources and assembles in the U.S., Meksian said. About 100 people work in Michael M’s California facility, with some 70 people in the workshop and some 30 people in sales and administrative work.
Meksian explained that the brand has been getting more interest from U.S. customers and retail partners because it primarily manufactures domestically. It does not currently sell in any department stores but is actively trying to get more wholesale accounts. “We have had more retailers wanting to expand with us and prioritizing us for appointments, just because they feel more comfortable working with a brand that has a sense of security and consistency,” Meksian said.
That hadn’t always been “a positive selling point” for Michael M, Meksian said. Before tariffs prompted some U.S. shoppers to look for local goods, manufacturing in the U.S. “was kind of working against us,” Meksian said. “People would hear ‘made in the U.S.’ and think ‘expensive,’ without even having considered what the price was or what materials we were using.”
Melissa Minkow, director of retail strategy at digital consultancy firm CI&T, told Modern Retail that Michael M is an example of an “outlier” retail brand feeling minimal impacts from tariffs. “There are going to be brands that are OK,” she said, but as so many manufacture abroad, that situation is rare.
It’s possible, Minkow said, that Michael M, as a higher-end brand, has high margins and is therefore well-positioned to absorb any costs it does end up racking up from tariffs. “You can get away with that [absorption] a lot easier in luxury,” Minkow said. “In these types of moments, it’s the really cheap companies, where retailers have such little margin to begin with, [that are most squeezed].”
Luxury companies have reported mixed earnings in the past few months as terms of tariffs fluctuate. In April, LVMH, which owns Tiffany, said quarterly sales of its watches and jewelry segment were up 1% year over year. Meanwhile, Signet Jewelers is closing stores and cutting staff at a time of declining revenue.