MKB Jewelry — Local services in Cedarburg

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. But I also feel responsible to let others know of our experience so that they are informed before they spend their hard-earned money or worry about their family heirloom jewels. Having special jewelry made from heirloom stones can be exciting, sentimental and an awesome way to honor loved ones. But it can also be as equally stressful, worrisome and disappointing when things do not turn out. It’s worse when deadlines pass and you do not receive updates even after inquiring. I contacted the jeweler at MKB after my fiancé had made plans to have a wedding ring set made from family heirloom stones. I was told it would take 4 to 8 weeks, (6 on average) to make the set. 8 weeks after the start I sent a text asking for an update on the rings. I was told to expect one on Monday. Over two weeks later after texting him multiple times I tried calling, he then texted me back saying that my messages were going to spam. I was told it would take another 2.5 weeks to finish the rings. 4 weeks later, 14 weeks from the start I finally picked up the engagement ring. Through the whole process I was patient only trying to get an update once a week, after I waited the full initial 8 weeks. It was frustrating to not get any reply to my inquires, especially since I had paid for the ring and was trusting the jeweler with very special stones. It then took 2 weeks and multiple inquires to get the appraisal for the ring so that we could insure it. After the engagement my fiancé did most of the communicating with the jeweler. She let him know right away when she would be needing the band. She was more persistent than I in trying to get updates, but still received the same lack of response and excuses on how her messages were not being received because her “phone number got put on silence”. When my fiancé expressed concern that the ring would not be finished in time for the wedding if any resizing needed to be done, the jeweler’s response was “resizing would take 1-3 days” and “look at this cool ring that I made for someone else”. When my fiancé received her wedding band 3 weeks after it was supposed to be done, it was sized way too big and the epoxy job was poor/cloudy. Her band needed to be resized twice. When the ring was resized for a second time, it was made larger instead smaller, and the resizing worsened the poor epoxy job. The ring was so big that there was no way my fiancé could wear it on her wedding day and not look ridiculous. When she asked about the epoxy job the jeweler agreed with my wife that it was poor and yet still sent her home with the ring, like he just wanted the project to be over. Maybe not a big deal with new gold, but this band is family heirloom gold. 12 days before her wedding the jeweler sent my fiancé home with a ring that was way too big and had a cloudy epoxy job. She then ordered a back-up wedding band because she was so disappointed in the band from MKB. When the jeweler heard she was going with a different ring he decided to remake the ring 11 days before the wedding. In the days before the wedding, we didn’t hear from the jeweler, nor did he respond when my fiancé asked for an update. The day before the wedding he asked what time the ceremony was so that he could possibly deliver it the next day. We never heard from him and on our wedding day I was left standing in the church with my best man deciding if we should cut the tag off of the backup wedding band since the jeweler may or may not be bringing her band to the church, because, it may or may not be being finished the morning of our wedding. Couldn’t help but think that the last thing that my fiancé and I want to have to deal with on our wedding day is the wedding band that should have been finished 100’s of days ago. In the end we received our rings and were satisfied. But it was a very frustrating process especially with the lack of response that we received from the jeweler throughout the process and I would not want anyone to have an experience like ours...

When I first reached out to MKB it was because a friend, who had gotten her engagement ring from here, recommended him to me. Now I already had a very specific ring design in mind, and I was convinced I could only get it from a certain big-store website, so I almost brushed her recommendation off. BUT, fortunately, I give into peer pressure too easily, and shot him a message on Facebook late that evening, figuring, “okay, what’s the worst that can happen? I’ll just not go through him.”

Boy howdy am I glad I was feeling nice and open-minded that day.

Despite it being way past business hours, Matt responded pretty much immediately, created a rendering the very next day based on my loose description, and opened up a time slot in his schedule for my then-boyfriend and I to meet with him, again, well after business hours to accommodate our work schedules! He then sat with us for at least an hour and a half, explaining the precision, care, and meticulous engineering he put into every one of his pieces, unlike so many big box websites and chain stores, and explained to me the physics of why the original ring I had so loved on the big-box website was structurally set up for doom. Overall, we worked together quite nicely, and he patiently made all of my requested microscopic tweaks here and there until I felt it was perfect.

But the sweetest, buttercream, icing on the cake: what really got the ball rolling for my then-boyfriend to propose was MKB’s unbeatable, without even close competition, PRICING! My fiancé proudly identifies as “a cheap man” and went to 9 different jewelers to get an idea on what other prices and quality were out there. MKB beat every single one by a landslide.

Overall, between his exceptional service, impressive experience, undeniable talent, dedicated perseverance, and unmatched pricing, I am proud to testify how the client gets far more than what he or she pays for from MKB, so I will gladly recommend as much business towards Matt as possible to keep that so.

Thank you for...

Update: A second purchase from MKB confirmed that they are a lifetime jeweler for me. Matt went above and beyond again for a custom piece of jewelry, this time a sapphire and diamond tennis bracelet. From the initial concept and hand-drawn sketches, to the pricing options (real vs. lab-created stones) and the final product, Matt was stellar. His aim is to make sure you, as a customer, are ultimately happy with the purchase. Given jewelry is usually a larger purchase, his personal investment in the outcome put me at ease each step along the way, and the pricing was absolutely amazing for the high quality bracelet. I cannot recommend Matt and MKB highly enough! Thank you so much for the great jewelry and experience yet again!

From start to finish, Matt did such an incredible job. Buying jewelry can be intimidating, but Matt made the whole process incredibly approachable and welcoming. I worked with Matt to make a custom-designed necklace for an anniversary gift. From the outset, he was very patient and helped close the gap between what I had in my mind and and what that meant in jewelry terms, as well as a range of what my idea might cost. Through several life-like renderings, he made my thoughts a reality, and it cost way less and was much higher quality than any place I have been for jewelry in the past. Forget the mall stores. Forget the names like Kessler's or Chalmer's. Remember MKB. You definitely will have a pleasant, approachable, and personal experience when you shop here, and I would recommend anyone who is looking to purchase jewelry to stop in and talk with...