Matthew's Jewelers — Local services in Plantation

Matthew's Jewelers and the men and women who work there are truly something special.

No words can do justice to the experience I had there, but I will try first by saying that I will never go anywhere but here for jewelry ever again.

In February 2015, I lost my childhood dog who was so much more than just a pet. After years of battling cancer, and surviving emergency surgeries and complications, my Makena lost her battle tragically and very unexpectedly. I had paw print molds and her ashes, but I still felt like I needed something more. My dog had been my shadow, always by my side. I needed a way to have her with me all the time again.

Makena had a beautiful BB Simon pink Swarovski crystal dog collar that she wore like a princess for years. I decided to see if it was possible to get the stones made into a piece of jewelry. As a wedding planner, I had seen Matthew's Jewelers rings almost weekly, and decided to see why they were so popular among clients. I read through reviews that seemed too good to be true… a 5 star rating… by EVERYONE?! What's the catch?

I sent an email with my backstory, asking if they did custom jewelry. Andrea responded promptly, thoroughly, and with pictures of her own dogs. That almost sealed the deal right there. To know my dog's collar would be in the hands of fellow dog lovers meant so much to me.

I walked into the store on St. Patrick's Day, and was delighted to see how festive it was decorated. Val greeted me with a smile, asking how she could help. After giving her some of my information, she introduced me to the owner, Mark, who had already printed out my email and pictures. We spent almost an hour going over how I wanted the jewelry pieces to look (I decided to do both a ring and necklace). Mark and Val asked questions about details like how long I wanted the chain to hang, how tiny I wanted the prongs, how wide I wanted the heart, what style band I wanted… they were genuinely taking an interest and care in my ideas. Having Mark up front with us, walking through each and every detail, was a nice reminder that I, as a customer, was still important enough for the store owner to meet with.

The longer I was there, the more comfortable I felt that Matthew's Jewelers would be designing my custom pieces. Val could truly see how special the collar was to me. She treated it with care and she packaged it up, and Mark even verified that I knew the process to remove the stones might result in having to cut small portions out. Since I was there to have a piece done in memory of my dog, it was extra special to have Taz and Fisbo (the store dogs) there.

Not even 2 weeks after drop off, I got the call that my jewelry was ready. Val remembered me, and opened the boxes to I could see the finished product… and I lost it. I cried tears of happiness as I could barely muster, "It's SO pretty!" through sobs. The necklace was PERFECT. More perfect than the picture we used as a sketch, more perfect than what I had envisioned… it was flawless. I was shaking so badly that I could barely put the ring on. I couldn't get over how shiny it was, and kept staring at it from different angles while moving my fingers up and down. Mark even came out from the back to see my reaction. I'm so glad I finally got to meet Andrea that day, who made this all happen. I hugged her and cried, and thanked everyone who had helped in making the custom jewelry.

Losing my dog was like losing a part of myself, and to have a piece of jewelry that brings her close to me again…. that's indescribable.

I have not taken off my ring since I got it. I find myself telling friends and family, "Look at my ring in this light", "Look at my ring under water", "Look at my ring while I hold my coffee". I'm quite possibly obsessed.

Matthew's Jewelers deserves every one of the 5 stars and more. I can not wait to...

Edit: The jeweler responded to my initial review and posted a picture of the rendering. The band I received was crooked and looks nothing like the rendering. I thought possibly we missed the crookedness on the rendering since we were focusing on the halo as explained in the initial review, but it looks like the rendering was not crooked at all. So, we did not receive what we had approved. Even worse. The jeweler stated the crookedness is due to wear and tear. Both sides of the band are equally crooked inverted copies. Not possible to be wear and tear as the jeweler exclaims. It is possible for you to be wrong, Matthew's Jewelers. Why not apologize instead of trying to make the customer look wrong? My husband and I had a custom ring made at Matthew's Jewelers over a year ago for a 5 year anniversary gift. I've decided to write a review because just recently I ended up spending $600 at a different jeweler to have it fixed. This whole ordeal has cost us thousands of dollars. I tried so very hard to like my ring and wore it for a while, but after having to take it off for a couple weeks during a hospital stay, when it was time to put it back on, I just couldn't do it.

Trying to make a long story short-- at first the experience was nice and the staff were friendly. We were very confident in our decision to go through this process with them and put our money down for the custom ring. Unfortunately, in the end I ended up with a ring that was not only crooked, but looked nothing like I had wanted.

It wasn't until we began the customized rendering process where it started to get frustrating. We had described through email, over the phone and in person, several times, that I wanted the halo to be at the top of the stone (considering that's how every ring I've seen is designed). After back and forth of different renderings, the halo still remained around the middle of the center stone. My request was not complicated and very straightforward. Photo examples were also sent to show where the halo should sit on the ring. We went in again to try to explain what I wanted and the jeweler explained that it will look great, to stop worrying and to trust him. We agreed and my husband and I approved the casting.

When we received the final product, the halo was not at the top of the stone and the stone setting was welded slightly crooked into the center of the halo. We also realized the design on the band of the ring was crooked and looked like a poorly recreated version of my wedding band (it was supposed to match). Focusing so much on the halo, this was missed.

The final time we visited Matthew's Jewelers was to get the center stone fixed as it almost fell out of the setting. Considering they have good reviews and the staff are so nice, I don't know what happened. Our experience overall was not a good one and I do not recommend getting a custom ring here if you care at all about detail. In my opinion, a nicely crafted piece of jewelry should not be crooked and the design should be flawless.

A photo of the custom ring has...

When I first set out with my fiance to buy engagement rings, I didn't know what to expect. I usually don't enjoy shopping too much because of pushy salesmen and a tendency to feel overwhelmed by the picking process. This was exactly what I was confronted with when I began the search for "my ring." I was also underwhelmed by the generic selections available and became frustrated as my enthusiasm began to dwindle. Luckily, my fiance found Matthew's Jewellers after searching online.

From the moment we set foot inside the store I knew we had found the place for us. We were warmly greeted by Rich Loebl who then took us on a very enthusiastic tour of the facility. It really is so much more than a jewelry store. He explained their custom fabrication process from start to finish, showing us the various rooms and tools necessary to take a design from idea to reality.

We then went over to the the bridal case where he gave us an extensive education on diamonds, from the various differences in standards to the importance of buying GIA certified stones. He then showed us all the engagement rings available in his display, which were all different than what I'd seen in other stores so far but still not quite my taste (although they were LOVELY). We decided to go with the custom design process, which I found extremely exciting and fun. I drew up a couple sketches on my own and got to actually see their CAD designer rough out some ideas for me on the computer. There is really something to be said about knowing that you are the only person who has YOUR ring, as it's a symbol of YOUR love.

I can not say enough good things about my experience with Matthew's Jewellers. At no point did I feel like we were a sale that needed to be closed; we were taken care of with an abundance of patience and attention that I am so very thankful for, and I am absolutely overjoyed with the beautiful piece they created for me. Such amazing level of service is an unfortunately rare thing nowadays and Matthew's attentive ways have definitely made us happy customers! We would gladly recommend them to anyone...