Simon G. discovered jewelry at an early age. Born Simon Ghanimian in Beirut, Lebanon, his parents taught him that he would never want for work if he had a trade. Jewelry soon became a lifelong obsession for the young man who liked to work with his hands. After he had mastered the skills and techniques necessary to compete in the industry, he decided to make the journey to America. Simon G. landed in Los Angeles and soon opened his own business.

He chose to shorten his surname after a clerk told him it was too long to fit on his application form for a business license. Simon G. then began to design some of the most distinctive and original jewelry the city had ever seen. With his wife Silvia by his side, he started making jewelry from scratch. The former mom-and-pop shop now has over 60 full-time employees! Their jewelry is sold in over 900 locations across the country!

What's their secret? As a designer, Simon has never considered himself a trend starter, or a follower. He simply works with materials and the tools he likes and trusts. He takes his time and is involved in each stage of the design process. Simon G. also embraces new technologies. He is not the kind of designer who refuses to work with new tools or techniques simply because they are new. His studio utilizes the latest computer aided design (CAD) software, which helps them make working prototypes.

When it comes to quality control, Simon is a bit obsessive. He has ten separate stations where jewelry is checked for defects before it moves to the next work station, or is sent back to the previous one.

Simon G. also alloys all of the jewelry that is made in his studio with platinum and palladium or platinum and iridium. This important, but often ignored step of the design process gives jewelry greater durability and strength. Why then is it ignored? Because adding an alloy that contains platinum is expensive.

All Simon G. engagement rings contain diamonds that were set by hand. This includes stones in his micro-set collection, which must be set and inspected with a microscope. Fine filigree, beading, scrolling, milgrain and engraving is all completed by hand. It is a labor-intensive process, to be sure, but the finished product is all that matters to the Simon. After all, art can only be created by human hands, not by machines!