posted 10-12-2007 01:54 AM               

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I had always admired Paul’s beautiful jewelry, which I’d seen worn by his wife, Mercy, and other mutual friends. But as a Lieutenant Commander with a wife and two children, I didn’t have the resources to be a buyer. That had changed by 1982, when I called him at his shop in the California Jewelry Mart in Los Angeles to ask if he could design a pendant for my wife based on the crew patch for STS-7, my first shuttle flight.

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I mentioned Paul's work to several astronaut colleagues, including Dick Truly and Dan Brandenstein, commander and pilot of the STS-8 mission. Both of them commissioned Paul to create pieces of jewelry for their wives. So began something of a tradition for astronauts. As of the shuttle’s 117th flight last December, more than 1,500 items designed by Dimitriu have gone into space on more than 100 flights.

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