Clearwater Custom Jewelry
Owner: Scott Jacobsen, a middle aged former resident of Tolkeen, owns and operates this shop with the assistance of his lovely wife Claire. They are both human, and grew up on the streets of Tolkeen coveting the fine things of wealthy people. They met on the streets as little more than City Rats - but when their lives turned around for them, was when Scott attempted to rob a well to do jeweler and found himself caught in a magical trap. The elderly jeweler cut a deal with the local authorities that if the boy came in and did chores and such for him around the shop, every day, he would press no further charges. Scott came to respect and even like the old man - and visa versa. They found their common bond was in their love of fine jewelry, and all manner of things that glitter. Within six months their relationship turned from victim/thief, to jeweler/apprentice. The old man eventually passed away, and a shock to his entire family was that he left most of all of his shop's possessions to the City Rat that once tried to rob him. From there Scott's life made a turn around - he and his girl friend Claire stopped hanging out with the gangs, partying, and staying up late and became reputable business owners over the next ten years. They finally left the city of Tolkeen in June of 110PA after the MMI (Mystic Military Intelligence) of the Royal Tolkeen Army came in and drafted all diamonds and gem stones in their shop of the time for military use. With their reasonable savings, and after liquidating most of their material possessions, they booked a train ride out of Tolkeen into the Colorado Baronies, finally coming to settle in the new City of Wa-Daisho. Although Scott and Claire both miss Tolkeen very much, there is still some bitter feeling there about the lack of compensation they received for their goods. Scott still keeps it on record that King Creed of Tolkeen owes him and his wife over 450,000 credits in diamonds and gems.
Reputation: Clearwater Custom Jewelry provides an exquisite selection of ready made items, and creates jewelry of all sorts to custom order. They stand by their product - any amount of disatisfaction results in money back, guaranteed, for the return of the jewelry. Among all walks of life in Wa-Daisho, and in the Allied Nations in general, an item purchased from Clearwater is a sign of high class taste. Prices vary according to the complexity, and cost of materials. Scott is notorious for his soft heart however - and has been known to cut GREAT deals for underpriviledged sorts of customers, especially fools in love with an underpriviledged lady.
Description of Shop: Located on Merchant drive, this shop is placed in a prime location for passerbys who might be interested in making a compulsive purchase. It is a relatively small 30'x40' single story brick shop, with a plain black sign that displays an image of a diamond ring, with an oversized diamond on it, with the words "Clearwater Custom Jewelry" written in ornate cursive writing. On the interior, it is well kept with maroon carpets, glass cases running along each side of the shop, with a single exit at the back into the work shop of the master jeweler who runs the establishment. It is well lit inside, and is constantly under protection. Cameras watch every corner of the shop including the work shop. Scott himself carries a Wilks-Remi 104 Derringer (pg 207 RIFTS World Book 14: New West) for protection, plus troops of the City Guard Division are constantly in the immediate vicinity, with anywhere from 16-32 troops walking around Merchant drive at any one time. Additionally two guard booths guarding the entrance of the underground city, each with a pair of soldiers in it are located less than 70' from the shop, who would investigate any sort of disturbances so close to their posts. There is ALWAYS at least one attendant inside of the shop itself, usually Mr or Mrs Jacobsen, but occasionally outside help is hired to man the till or help cover customers. Note that all valuable materials are kept in a safe in the back room. The glass cases are almost as safe as a true safe, given that they are composed of mega-damage materials designed to withstand brutal punishment of frustrated attackers.
Description of Services: They typically sell high quality jewelry at fair to high prices. However, they specialize in producing jewelry to custom orders. Prices vary greatly according to the cost of materials, work involved, and the complexity of the order. Unusual or special orders such as those that include items built into them such as microchip recorders, video cameras, mace, or pepper spray must be provided by the ordering party and likely cost double normal price. Any requests to place a lethal substance or object into a piece of jewelry will be flatly refused, and a report WILL be filled out after the departure of the ordering party. Hidden compartments increase the cost of items by 50%. Use the following price list as a guideline, but bear in mind that these prices are NOT hard prices. IF the project is extremely elaborate or ornate (translation: gaudy) increase the price accordingly. Also, since Scott IS a master jeweler, have him maybe try to talk the character(s) out of the more elaborate schemes and similar, especially if planned as a gift. More elaborate is not always better. Even if it won't make him as much money, remember, his work is guaranteed so he's got to be certain it's what the character wants. Here is the price list;
Rings: 250 credits to 2,200 credits maximum.
Bracelets: 180 credits to 3,200 credits maximum.
Pendants: 150 credits to 2,500 credits maximum.
Necklaces: 50 credits to 1,200 credits maximum.
Earrings: 25 credits to 450 credits maximum.
Note: These prices listed are intended for HUMAN sized jewelry. Larger jewelry for Dragons, giants, etc. could be substantially more upwards and around of 10 to even a 100 times more expensive given the time required to spend on such items due to their inherant size, and complexity. Also note that the prices above do NOT factor in the special projects as mentioned above. GMs again, I as a fellow GM cannot stress enough to use COMMON SENSE in this pricing. I did not even begin to cover the idea of an all diamond necklace like the ones worn at important Hollywood functions that are worth upwards and around of $1.5 million US dollars each in todays world - one can only begin to imagine how much it'd be worth in the RIFTS world.
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