Yesterday my husband and I had the experience working with Ian. For my birthday, my husband gave me a beautiful diamond ring unfortunately, it was a little bit too big and here we were in Camden on a little getaway and desperately wanted the ring to stop twirling. We walked into Thomas Michaels designers and had the pleasure of working with Ian. He was so helpful and asked if he would like him to check the ring and clean and would be happy to size it. Ian was delightful to work with and very knowledgeable. We will plan to come back to Camden and I certainly hope that my next jewelry purchase will be at Thomas Michaels designers. read more

What a wonderful experience to meet and speak with Thomas. He is the consummate professional. He accepted for repair a very delicate gold bracelet. He explained in detail what was needed and how he would repair it. Highly recommended! God Bless! read more

Extremely rude customer service. I walked in to look at jewelry with my best friend, and wasn't greeted at first. When I was, I felt very judged by the lady at the desk. She looked at me like I didn't deserve to be in there or couldn't afford to shop there. read more

I bought a custom designed engagement ring along with our wedding bands here. I had a specific tension set design in mind, and after showing him he designed a show stopper that looked even better! Channel set but looked tension set. We were impressed, as are people who still see it. Our oldest kid is almost 5 now, so this was some time ago, but we still do appreciate his awesome service. His follow up is second to none also. We live in nyc now but hold off on any repair/reappraisal until our trips back up to Maine. Can't recommend him enough! read more

I have been buying from Thomas Michaels since I lived in Maine in college for a summer internship. The last 10 plus years I have been purchasing items over the phone, never once being able to come into the shop so I can't review the location. That being said I can review the artist himself. Besides being an incredible person and a joy to work with on design ideas and custom work, the inventiveness and creativity that exudes from this man is extraordinary. My wife's wedding ring is the source of constant conversation among friends and people that meet her for the first time. If you want unique, beautiful well crafted jewelry for yourself or others this is where you should go. And the lifetime of service that follows is just a perk. read more

Michaels and his wife are great people, they really treat you right in the store, listen to what you have in mind in terms of the design of the piece and are very educational. My fiance and I got our wedding bands custom made here, and my engagement ring reset (from a display setting) here at the same time. We are from out of town so it was agreed that we'll get all three rings in about a month. As it turns out it was more like three, but we didn't mind that. When the rings came in the mail, it was unmarked, we like that for security reasons you know When we open the box and at the first sight, they were glorious. However, after looking at it more in detail, there were little something that I am not completely satisfy. On my eternity wedding band, the wash holes in the back are not spaced evenly in a row, a couple of the wash holes were merged, and it happens in 2 places. Also on my newly set engagement ring, there were a scratch (a circular large dot) next to the head. May be I am just picky but we pay handsomely for those rings to be hand crafted and to be perfect. Emailed them with pictures twice and called them once, never heard from Michael. One other thing is that there are no stamp of his company seal in the inside of the rings. Doesn't he need that to identify pieces for later service? (he said he'll service his pieces for life for free.) Well, we are too busy to figure all this out for now, only time will tell when we need service on the rings. read more

My engagement ring and wedding band are everything I could ever hope for. Couldn't have asked for a more beautifully designed / modern interpretation of the traditional Claddagh. Thomas Michaels found the most amazingly symmetrical stone that shines with such beauty (you know a stone is cut right when it creates a disco ball effect when the light hits it). I get so many compliments on how well crafted my ring is, and the design is flawless. I don't think I would trust anyone else to deliver as well with such high expectations. read more

I grew up in Camden and had often heard of the sterling reputation of Thomas Michaels and family. When it came time to think about buying an engagement ring for my very discerning girlfriend (now wife), he was the first person that I called. Thomas took almost an hour of his time to walk me thoroughly through the diamond-buying process without once adding any pressure that I do so with him. In the end, I gave him a general idea of what I was looking for, and how much I was willing to spend. I felt comfortable leaving the rest up to him. His beautiful creation was an enormous hit! The ring came back exactly as I and, more importantly, my wife had envisioned it. A perfect combination of timeless elegance and contemporary detail. My wife loved it so much that there was no discussion when it came time to choose who would make our wedding bands. Thomas created and crafted both of our rings, and we could not be happier with the craftmanship. Bottom line: Great quality Personal service Wonderful people read more

Thomas has been creating, selling, and repairing jewelry for my wife for over 15 years. His knowledge of precious stones has been greatly appreciated. His style has cost me some significant money due to its beauty and my wife's' desire for it. We are lucky to have him in the Mid-coast. Visit his store and see for yourself. read more

I brought my wedding ring into this jeweler's to have them make two rings. I have walked past their store for many years and was very excited to finally be creating my dream ring set. While Thomas and Nora were helpful with the design, it too nearly 4 months to get the two rings made. My many calls for an update were replied to with completion times they didn't meet. On both rings, the diamond and tourmalines fell out and I couldn't fine them. How can it be that the stones fall out of rings that are so new! When I emailed to say that another stone had fallen out, I received a short reply from Nora saying that I should send it back. No apology or acceptance of the poor work. I will not be returning my ring to their store but will try to find another jeweler that cares about their work and customer service. read more

We have been maried over a year now and want to pass along our very positive experience with the custom designed engagment ring (and wedding band) that we had made by Thomas Michaels. We wandered into the store and found ourselves suddenly involved in an interesting and educational disussion with Thomas about ring designs, diamonds, and gems on display. This lauched into a project in working with him to design a sapphire and diamond engagement ring inspired by his knife edge design setting. After much discussion and refining of drawings and models, Thomas delivered what he promised, a unique yet classic ring that we love and that others still ask about. Also, for a reasonable price, he made for us a perfect channel set wedding band based on a specific style we showed him. We enjoyed working with Thomas and his wife on this project and we are extremely pleased with the results. read more

Thomas and his wife are true craftspeople when it comes to creating a piece of jewelry that fits me as a customer. He designed a bracelet for us. We worked around an original design of his , including what i wanted in the piece and the end result was a magnificent bracelet that receives complements whenever i wear it. Thomas is a very detail oriented person when he is dealing with you as a customer and I appreciate his attention to all of the small details that matter. I always enjoy how he teaches me some new innovative fact about the brilliance of a stone or a new clasp design. He is very talented and creative, but also seems to have the latest knowledge regarding design and functionality. Time spent with Thomas is well worth it and you won't be disappointed. read more

When it came time to build an engagement ring for my fiance, Jackie, I knew exactly who I would go to. Thomas Michaels has a great reputation in Camden for crafting quality jewelry products, and when we sat down with him to talk rings, it was clear why. He walked us through every step of the process with clear explanations of diamonds, settings and bands, and never once tried to steer us in a certain direction. We both felt completely at home in the store. The diamond I ended up choosing was intricately cut and sparkled more than anything I'd seen in other jewelry stores. Thomas made the ring in a timely fashion and had it all ready to go before my desired proposal date. The setting was exactly what we had talked about, and the diamond looked flawless. As soon as Jackie saw the ring, we knew we would be going back for our wedding bands, which came out great as well. Working with Thomas and his wife Nora was fun, comfortable and professional, and we learned a lot about diamonds in the process. I would recommend these guys over any of the "big box" diamond stores, because they truly care about the finished product and work through each step with you instead of focusing strictly on the endgame. read more

I walked into the store with 4 older rings that had a variety of sized diamonds in different settings. My goal was to get these converted and set into one ring, a combined wedding and engagement band, so I would use it on a daily basis. After a few meetings Thomas came up with a great 5 stone setting that included two hidden side stones as well. I was able to use 3 of my stones and get help to purchase two more that matched what I had. The band, the setting and the final ring is just what I was looking for and I could not be more pleased. I agree with the other review that there are some things that are not exactly identical from one prong to another, but I do not see them as a negative since they are made to match individual stones. Instead it reinforces the fact that this is a hand crafted, individual piece that was made just for me! I had lots of questions along the way and they were always answered in a timely manner educating me on diamonds and one of a kind jewelry along the way. I am now having Thomas work on another ring for me to incorporate the rest of my stones and can not wait to see what the final result of that job will be. This was worth the time and cost for sure! Staff was great, helpful and service minded. read more

When we were vacationing in Camden,Maine we had no idea that were going to have a beautiful diamond ring made for me in celebration of our 50th. wedding anniversary. We walked by the gallery and it looked so enticing - we had to go in. We looked at everything; we admired everything: and we talked to a lovely young woman told who us all about Thomas.Thomas came out to greet us.and then we left I think we got to the end of the block when we turned to each other and said," let's go back and at least hear what Thomas has to say." So we got a really intense lesson as to how .Thomas selects stones and how the procedure would work long distance (we live in Philadelphia).And it all worked just like he said it would. Not only did he pick an exquisite stone for me - he put it into one of his beautiful settings and I have one the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I ever could own. He also designed a necklace for me using stones from my old engagement ring. Again, doing it long distance worked fine. Pictures went back and forth and Thomas worked his magic once again. In a million years I wouldn't have thought to arrange three stones the way he did and create such a substantial piece of jewelery. He will be our reason to visit Camden again. read more