Jason Arasheben on Meeting Michael Jackson at Neverland Ranch

Jason Arasheben has spent decades designing jewelry for some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, but the founder of Jason of Beverly Hills says only one client ever truly left him starstruck: Michael Jackson.

A Commission Rooted in Family History

Arasheben opened up about his experience working with Jackson during a recent appearance on Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson's podcast, The Pull Up With Scoop B. The project he described wasn't a typical celebrity order. Jackson commissioned Arasheben to create a set of diamond pieces inspired by the Jackson family crest, a job that required both technical precision and an understanding of what the symbol meant to the family behind it.

For a designer who has since built jewelry for artists likeDrake and Rihanna, and who has become one of the most sought-after names in championship-ring design, the Jackson commission still stands out. Arasheben has said he rarely gets starstruck in his line of work, but Jackson was the exception.

A Personal Tour of Neverland Ranch

What made the experience unforgettable, according to Arasheben, wasn't just delivering the finished pieces. It was being personally walked through Neverland Ranch by Jackson himself. He has described the visit as one of the most meaningful moments of his career, and he remembers Jackson as warm, gracious, and down to earth in person, despite being one of the most recognizable people on the planet.

The tour, though, revealed something beyond the property itself. Arasheben came away with a rare, up-close view of the elaborate infrastructure Jackson had built simply to preserve some version of an ordinary life for himself and his children.

A Movie Theater Built Out of Necessity

One detail from the tour stuck with Arasheben: Jackson's private movie theater. Going to a public theater, something most people take for granted, simply wasn't an option for Jackson or his kids. Building his own theater on the property was, in Arasheben's telling, Jackson's way of engineering a small piece of normalcy that fame had made impossible to access any other way.

That single detail reframed how Arasheben thought about wealth and celebrity. He's said the visit made him realize that as much as people admire Jackson's success and fame, there's a side of that life he wouldn't actually want for himself. It took standing inside Neverland to fully understand what that trade-off looked like.

Jackson's Legacy, Still Growing

Arasheben's recollection lands at a moment when interest in Jackson's life and career is surging again. The biopic Michael, starring Jaafar Jackson and directed by Antoine Fuqua, has crossed $1 billion at the worldwide box office, making it Lionsgate's highest-grossing release, with a sequel already in development for late 2026 or early 2027.

The film has helped drive a broader resurgence of Jackson's catalog. He recently held the top three spots on Billboard's R&B Streaming Songs chart with "Billie Jean," "Chicago," and "Beat It," while classic albums like Thriller, Bad, and Off the Wall have climbed back into heavy rotation. Sony Music has specifically pointed to Thriller and Bad as major drivers behind a quarter in which the division's sales grew 22 percent.

From Neverland to the Championship Stage

In the years since his time with Jackson, Arasheben has built Jason of Beverly Hills into one of the most recognizable names in sports jewelry, designing championship rings for franchises including the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Rams, Philadelphia Eagles, and Seattle Seahawks. His recent work has leaned increasingly into mechanical and interchangeable elements, pushing championship-ring design further from tradition and closer to functional art.

But even with that resume, the memory of Neverland has stayed with him: a reminder that behind the pieces he designs for the world's biggest stars is often a life built around limits most people never see.