Time ticking down for landmark Gainesville jewelry store - Gainesville Times

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Time ticking down for landmark Gainesville jewelry store

Gem Jewelry closing its doors Dec. 30 after 81 years on square

Gem Jewelry owner Linda Orenstein, along with her sister Temme have decided to close their longtime Gainesville jewelry store on Dec. 30 after 81 years in business which opened in 1936 shortly after a tornado devastated the city. - photo by Scott Rogers

12032017 GEM 2.jpg — Gem Jewelry owner Linda Orenstein, along with her sister Temme have decided to close their longtime Gainesville jewelry store on Dec. 30 after 81 years in business which opened in 1936 shortly after a tornado devastated the city. - photo by Scott Rogers

It was 1936, still in the thick of the Great Depression, when Mose Eplan left Atlanta for the Gainesville square and never looked back. But like the hands on one of the fine watches sold at Gem Jewelry, the store he founded, time is ticking down for the downtown landmark.