Jewelry

Police arrested an Elkridge man Tuesday in connection with the robberies of two jewelry stores in Glen Burnie and in Baltimore County, county police said.Roland Lenney Howard Jr., 37, of the 6600 block of Huntshire Drive was charged with armed robbery and use of a handgun in the commission of a felony. He was being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center on $40,000 bond.He also is charged in Baltimore County on a warrant containing the same charges.Police say a man who walked into Merksamer Jewelers in Marley Station mall about 9 p.m. May 30 armed with a handgun, ordered a clerk to hand over jewelry and ran through the mall with a bag full of jewelry.

Police are looking for a man who robbed a Severn woman of her jewelry Wednesday in front of a local supermarket, county police said.Sharron Evadne Reid, 31, told police she was walking from the pay phones in front of Pioneer Food Market in the 1100 block of Reece Road about 11: 30 p.m. when a man grabbed her and threatened to shoot her if she did not give him her money and jewelry.Ms. Reid gave the man her rings, and he tried to force her into her car, police said. Ms. Reid struggled, broke free and flagged down a passing vehicle for help, police said.

Two men, one armed with a semi-automatic handgun, robbed Shaw's Jewelers at the Owings Mills Mall in the 10300 block of Millrun Circle of a large quantity of diamonds and diamond rings moments after the store closed last night, Baltimore County police said.According to police, two men entered the store around 9:30 p.m. by raising the security gate that employees left down but unlocked as they prepared to leave for the night.It is believed two female employees were in the store at the time.

Richard Ackler, a retired Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. engineer who had a second career as a jewelry maker, died of complications from cancer Monday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The North Baltimore resident was 90. Born in Baltimore and raised on Reisterstown Road in the Pimlico section, he was a 1931 graduate of Polytechnic Institute. His subsequent employment at BGE was interrupted by enlistment in the Navy and service with the Seabees as an electrician in the South Pacific during World War II. After the war, he earned an engineering degree from the Johns Hopkins University and became an industrial engineer for BGE. He retired in 1977.

To metalsmith Clara Ines Arana, clothes are a backdrop. It's jewelry -- specifically the geometric gold and silver pins and earrings she designs -- that set her wardrobe apart.You could say a love for jewelry is in her genes. Her father and grandfather were jewelers in Colombia. After moving to Baltimore more than 20 years ago, she pursued the craft while raising her children: Sebastian, now 20, and Claudia, 17.Her line is carried at Tomlinson Craft Collection and in more than 50 stores across the country.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Behind those $10 diamond-shaped earrings with the mysteriously smiling Mona Lisa and that $6 pin with a Monopoly game board on the front is a little something extra a condom.Joan Rivers called them "cute" on her television talk show, pronounced them as having "class" and then quipped, "giving me a condom is like giving Bart Simpson a book."Rep. Patricia Schroeder, D-Colo., had an aide call the San Leandro company after she heard about them and word is that most of the women on her staff are now wearing them.

Roland Park jewelry designer Tracey Pettingill crafts earrings, necklaces and bracelets in a range of styles, from serious sterling silver to fanciful and fun pieces made with Swarovski crystals, turquoise, coral, pearls and Balinese beads. Pettingill finds inspiration in primitive art and the art deco era. Her signature pieces include a textural sterling-silver-linked bracelet with classic appeal and a dramatic yet festive beaded-crystal charm bracelet. Prices range from $20 to $500. Her jewelry is available at galleries across the county.

Two men escaped with a number of pieces of jewelry from a store in Owen Brown village Tuesday afternoon after assaulting an employee, Howard County police reported yesterday.An employee of Mai's Jewelry store in the 9400 block of Snowden River Parkway let two men into the store through an electrically locked door about 3: 25 p.m. Tuesday, a police report said.Police said that when the employee bent down to get a piece of jewelry from a case, the men pushed the sales clerk to the floor, took an unspecified number of pieces of jewelry from the display cases and ran out of the store.

The J. C. Penney store in The Mall in Columbia was robbed late Saturday by someone who Howard County police believe hid in the store at closing time.Several jewelry cases were broken into and jewelry was taken before the intruder left through a dock door, police reports said.All interior doors in the Mall were secure at the time of the robbery, and an alarm was tripped as the intruder left, police said.All stores in the mall are responsible for their own security, said Jeff Sneddon, vice president and general manager of the mall.

Frances B. Booke, who sold jewelry at a downtown business she owned for nearly 50 years and was also a proprietor of the old Marconi's restaurant, died of stroke complications Tuesday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Mount Vernon resident was 88. Born Frances Berman in Baltimore and raised in Reservoir Hill, she was the daughter of Isaac Berman, a pawnbroker. Her brother, Dr. Edgar Berman, was a surgeon who wrote the 1976 bestseller, The Solid Gold Stethoscope. She was a 1935 graduate of Western High School and regularly attended class reunions.