Jewelry

GLENDALE — Toxic levels of lead were found in children’s jewelry sold in Glendale and six other cities, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. Three stores in the Glendale Galleria — Sanrio Surprises, Macy’s and GAP Kids — have necklaces or rings containing as much as 70 times the legal lead levels, the report said. Michael’s Arts and Crafts and Cost Plus World Market, on Glendale Avenue, were also included in the list.

Newport Beach business owner Ira Israel doesn't have a shop where he can show off his Venetian glass beads, so events like the Gem Faire are vital to his operation. Much of Israel's business is conducted over the Internet. He said he brings his products to about 25 traveling shows per year. The Gem Faire, a three-day bead, jewelry and crystal showcase that visited the Orange County Fairgrounds Friday, Saturday and Sunday, is one of his favorite events.

Josephine Matosian met and married her husband Manuel in Baghdad. Both of their families had settled in Middle Eastern countries after escaping from Armenia during the Diaspora. When a Matosian daughter married an American service man, she helped the family settle here in the Foothills. Sossi Matosian Bagham, remembers their first home in Sparr Heights. Today all six Matosian siblings live and work locally. Josephine, the matriarch of the family, moved to Montrose, after the passing of her husband.

A man impersonating a Glendale Water & Power employee stole about $6,000 in cash and jewelry Wednesday from an East Glendale home, officials said. The man knocked on the home's front door at about 2:30 p.m. on the 1400 block of East Wilson Avenue. Under the guise of checking on water quality, the man told the homeowner that he was a Glendale Water and Power employee and had to check the faucets in the kitchen and bathroom, according to Glendale police reports. “We have seen this [scam]

Police were on the lookout Monday for burglars who cleaned out a residence of more than $17,000 in electronics and jewelry. A La Crescenta woman returned home Friday and found several drawers cleaned out and strewn about her home in the 3600 block of Markridge Road, according to police reports. Computer and electronic equipment valued at $4,537 were taken along with several pieces of jewelry worth an estimated $13,018, police said. The woman reported carpet cleaners were left working in the house, but told police she did not believe they would burglarize her home.

Darleene Barrientos Glendale Police investigators are looking for homeowners who discovered their jewelry or expensive cosmetics missing after a real estate open house. Camille Helm, 47, of La Canada Flintridge, was released on bail Wednesday after being arrested on suspicion of stealing makeup and jewelry from at least four homeowners holding real estate open houses. Police believe Helm burglarized more homes than have been reported, Investigator Danny Carver said.

Dining With Duvall by Lynn Duvall My best friend, Judie, used to be a jewelry designer. She no longer makes her own jewelry. These days Judie haunts gem shows for unique artisan pieces and fine gemstones. A few months ago I was tagging along behind Judie as she combed the aisles of a gem show at the Pasadena Convention Center. We usually go to Santa Monica, where it's horribly crowded and steamy hot, inside giant white tents. For once, I was not crammed in with hordes of shoppers, dying of the heat.

Investigators from Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station retained a search warrant for an apartment in Los Angeles where they recovered 200 pieces of jewelry allegedly stolen from homes in the Crescenta Valley. The suspect, 47-year-old Rosa Gutierrez, had worked as a housekeeper in the Crescenta Valley area. "An independent maid, working in the area for several months, recruited a friend, Rosa, to help her [at the homes she cleans]," detective Pat Murphy alleged. "While [the other housekeeper]

GLENDALE — A 31-year-old man was arrested Thursday when police discovered he was hiding out at a friend’s house after allegedly stealing four guns, $100,000 worth of jewelry and rare Russian gold coins from a home. Police had been searching for Mkher Alaverdian of Glendale since they found two handguns, a rifle and shotgun from the Nov. 26 burglary inside his home, Glendale Sgt. Vahak Mardikian said. They discovered he was staying with a friend who lived in the 1300 block of Garfield Avenue, where he fled to after police found the guns, Mardikian said.

Diamonds may be forever, but business models change. And so goes Tiffany & Co. Its newest, and as yet only, concept store is now two weeks into blazing a new path for the esteemed jeweler at its 2,600-square-foot boutique at the Americana at Brand. There are no wedding rings, baby gifts, men’s jewelry or glassware. No sales associates in suits or prim dresses. Instead, patrons to the new Tiffany & Co. on the Americana green’s edge are greeted by “jewelry stylists” in pressed white shirts, a large flat-screen TV and a casual sitting area.

Three teens were cited this week for allegedly burglarizing seven homes in Burbank and Glendale and stealing four guns, cash and jewelry, police said Wednesday. Police cited and released a 17-year-old Sun Valley boy and two Burbank boys, ages 16 and 17, to their parents on Monday after they admitted to breaking into the homes and taking various items, according to Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn. The boys' names weren't released because they are minors. The mother of the 17-year-old Burbank boy called Burbank police at around 4:45 p.m. Sunday after she found a safe containing cash and a 9mm handgun in her son's bedroom, Ryburn said.

A 27-year-old Glendale man was robbed Wednesday evening while jogging on San Fernando Road near Cerritos Avenue, police said. The jogger was running about 7:30 p.m. on San Fernando Road when he heard a man call out to him, according to Glendale police. The man asked the jogger if he had any money. But when the jogger replied that he didn't, the man threatened to shoot him if he didn't hand over his necklace and money, police said. Fearing for his safety, the jogger gave the man his necklace and $18 in cash, police said.

Police officials are asking victims of a recent rash of home burglaries across the San Fernando Valley and into Glendale to help identify more than 3,000 high-end jewelry pieces and watches recovered from a Beverly Hills home that they believe are tied to the crime spree. Police have said the burglars belonged to a criminal group made up of South Los Angeles gang members that was targeting the affluent neighborhoods. Some of the recovered property could belong to Glendale residents whose homes were burglarized in April, police said.

An armed man that was reportedly dressed in a FedEx uniform entered a Montrose jewelry store Saturday morning and stole an undisclosed amount of items, police said. The suspect, described as a black male, entered Honolulu Jewelry on 2250 Honolulu Ave. at around 11:45 a.m. posing as a FedEx worker with a package in his arms, said Glendale police Sgt. Tim Oswandel. He then brandished a handgun and struck the business owner in the face a couple of times with the gun before stealing jewelry and fleeing the store, said Oswandel.

A man impersonating a Glendale Water & Power employee stole about $6,000 in cash and jewelry Wednesday from an East Glendale home, officials said. The man knocked on the home's front door at about 2:30 p.m. on the 1400 block of East Wilson Avenue. Under the guise of checking on water quality, the man told the homeowner that he was a Glendale Water and Power employee and had to check the faucets in the kitchen and bathroom, according to Glendale police reports. “We have seen this [scam]

A19-year-old man is expected to be arraigned Friday on charges that he and another man allegedly broke into a home, stole what they could, then ran through several backyards and tried to dump bags containing jewelry, police said. _________________________ FOR THE RECORD: This corrects an earlier version that stated both suspects were taken into custody. _________________________ John Livingston was taken into custody just about 12:30 p.m. Thursday on suspicion of burglary after police found him running down a neighborhood street, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

Masked gunmen pistol-whipped a Glendale couple in their home Tuesday before robbing them of thousands of dollars in cash and jewelry, police said. The gunmen entered the Royal Canyon home at about 9 p.m. in the 1700 block of Greenbriar Road through an unlocked door, Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said. Detectives believe that the wife and husband, in their 50s and 60s, respectively, were targeted, Lorenz added. During the home-invasion robbery, the two gunmen restrained the couple and pistol-whipped them, causing bruises, he said.

Fearing that more jewelry stores may fall victim in a similar manner to a brazen Nov. 15 smash-and-grab daytime robbery, police have begun alerting business owners on how to prepare and immediately react. The alert comes after last month’s robbery of the Glendale Jewelry Mart on Brand Boulevard in which a group of thieves bombarded the store in broad daylight, smashed several glass displays with hammers, stole an undisclosed amount of merchandise and fled in separate vehicles.

DOWNTOWN — Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspects who robbed a downtown jewelry store in broad daylight Monday. Police have detained a man and two women in connection with the robbery, which occurred about 1 p.m. at Glendale's Jewelry Mart in the 200 block of North Brand Boulevard. Immediately after the robbery, the trio led police on a chase from Glendale to South Los Angeles, where they were eventually detained, police said. Surveillance video of the incident released by Glendale police on Tuesday showed at least six people using axes and hammers to bust jewelry cases open while others scooped merchandise into open bags.