Three talented students from Cabarrus County Schools have seen their very own jewelry designs brought to life! In late March, these talented young artists were named the winners of the Ellis Jewelers 13th Annual Future Jewelry Designer Contest. In the weeks since, the Ellis Jewelers custom design team has been hard at work crafting each of their designs into a real piece of fine jewelry. The lucky winners had plenty of competition, as their designs were chosen amongst hundreds of entries.

Dan Levinson, owner of Ellis Jewelers, and his team went through the lengthy process of narrowing the competition down to the top designs from each age group (grades 3-5 and 6-8) based on the specific judging criterion provided to each student. After posting the finalists’ designs to their Facebook page, Ellis Jewelers invited the Greater Cabarrus County community to vote for their favorites via Facebook. After a voting period, the three designs with the highest number of Facebook ‘Likes’ and ‘Loves’ were then declared the winners.

This year’s winning students designed three unique and gorgeous pendants:

• 7th grader Kylie C. (J.N. Fries Magnet Middle School) created an elegant monarch butterfly pendant.
• 3rd grader Stella H. (R.Brown McAllister STEM Elementary School) designed a sweet smiling bee pendant in black, white and yellow. Last but certainly not least, elementary school student
• 3^rd grader AnaMary G (Wolf Meadow Elementary School). designed a sunflower pendant in heartfelt tribute to her cousin Emma, featuring a yellow ribbon to help raise awareness of Ewing sarcoma.

The Ellis team transformed the initial student sketches into precise Computer Aided (CAD) designs, which they then used to craft wax mold replicas and, ultimately, completed pieces. The pendants were presented to the students in a special ceremony at Ellis Jewelers on Thursday, May 16th.

“This is one of my favorite parts of the year, every year,” says Dan Levinson, owner of Ellis Jewelers. “Our local students never fail to amaze me with their talent and creativity. All of the designs we saw were incredible, and it’s always hard to narrow it down to just a few.” Levinson added that he’s excited to see what all of Cabarrus County’s young artists do with their talents in the future, adding: “These kids represent the next generation of jewelry designers, artists and creators. We’re honored to play a small role in supporting their creative growth.

“It’s always so heartwarming to watch the winners’ faces light up as we present them with their finished pieces.”

For more information about the Future Jewelry Designer Contest or Ellis Jewelers’ custom designs, please visit the Ellis Jewelers website.