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Award-Winning Jewelry Designer Ellie Thompson Announces New Book

CHICAGO, IL, May 28, 2024– Ellie Thompson, the celebrated Chicago-based designer of fine jewelry, is pleased to announce the publication of Designing American Jewelry: From City Rhythms to Western Dreams. Both a personal memoir and a compelling retrospective of her life’s work, the book describes Thompson’s vision as a contemporary American designer, as well as her perspective on the meaning and potency of jewelry in the modern age.

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Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Why I’m Writing a Book

When you’re a child, a Saturday morning or a summer afternoon can stretch into eternity. On a Monday, the weekend seemed impossibly distant. At 2 PM, the clock looked like it would never reach 2:30 and the end of the school day.

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American Gem Stories: Montana Sapphires

Nothing evokes the spirit of the American West for me more than cowboy boots and Montana sapphires. As pioneers and gold prospectors journeyed west in the mid-1800s in search of wealth and adventure, they found not only gold sparkling in the spring runoffs, but rounded pebbles of pale blue, pink, yellow and green sapphires.

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American Gem Stories: The Ant Hill Garnets of Arizona

Mining is hard work in any climate, but it would seem particularly grueling under the heat of the Arizona desert. There is, however, one group of miners who have been at it for millennia who don’t seem to mind the heat at all: ants. Specifically, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, the red harvester ant.

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American Gem Stories: Maine Tourmaline

When we think of tourmaline, we might think of far-flung places like Brazil or the Himalayas. But some of the world’s most beautiful (and largest) tourmalines can be found deep in the forests of Maine. The US state is probably known more for its rocky coastlines than for the shinier, more valuable rocks under its hills, more for the frights produced by Maine native Stephen King than for the beauty produced by nature.

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