In downtown Pioche you will find a jeweler that prides himself in creating custom, hand-crafted jewelry.
John Linerode, owner of Dougherty’s Fine Jewelry, has spent his whole life working with precious stones and metals to create beautiful adornments for his customers.
Roughly 80% of the items in the store cases are custom-made by Linerode. And unlike the jewelry stores you find in a shopping mall, he invites customers to tell him exactly what they want their jewelry to look like. He also welcomes customers to bring in their own jewelry to melt down and create something new.
Linerode has created a wide variety of unique items. “You name it,” he said. An example would be the “elk ring”, where he creates a ring complete with an elk’s tooth. He had two elk rings on display in the county fair and won first prize.
Linerode comes from a long line of jewelers and watchmakers. His grandfather opened a store in small a small Ohio town in the 1940s, which Linerode eventually inherited. He later moved to Las Vegas and opened a store there and finally found his way to Pioche, where he runs the business with his mother, Margaret Garcia.
Linerode has maintained many of his Las Vegas clients and also has customers from all over the United States, but he welcomes more opportunities to serve locals.
“We wish more of the Pioche, Caliente, and Panaca people would use us,” he said.
