Jeweler to the Stars

Curtis Jewelers in Columbia doesn't advertise high prices, but the firm's work (according to a recent article in the Monroe County Clarion) is reaching heights to which few other jewelers can aspire. Owner Curt Cecena has crafted a medallion for astronaut Sandra Magnus--a native of Belleville who spent a summer semester at Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC)--to carry into outer space when she takes off for the International Space Station in November.

Cecena had to work within considerable constraints--he only had two days to make a piece that normally takes two weeks, and Magnus is limited to a total of 1.5 pounds of personal items that she can take into orbit. He ended up settling on a disk that is made out of 14-carat white gold with an image showing a spaceship orbiting Earth with Magnus' name and the name of her spacecraft on one side and the SWIC logo and lettering with a spaceship on the other.

It may not be technically true that Cecena's work met the standards of the National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA), but it surely met exacting demands...