Jewelry Costs: Discussion

[Sho]

The difference between bones-and-feathers jewelry and jewelry with precious stones will have that effect.

[SuperSonicScientist]

Jewelry should be incredibly expensive, all jewelry, in line with how easy other things are to obtain in relative terms. The argument for primitave jewelry is thin... any primitive that invested time on jewlery without, for example, getting the best weapon they can, building a shelter, building a large store of food, and trying to shoulder his/her neighbours out of the area would be counting lifespan in days not years...

[formerly known as hf]

Jewelry should be incredibly expensive, all jewelry, in line with how easy other things are to obtain in relative terms. The argument for primitave jewelry is thin... any primitive that invested time on jewlery without, for example, getting the best weapon they can, building a shelter, building a large store of food, and trying to shoulder his/her neighbours out of the area would be counting lifespan in days not years...

Very simple jewelery, wood and bone, have been shown to exist since the stone age. You are right about the weapons and shelter - but once a community is settled, which can happen fairly easily, jewelery isn't all that time consuming.



Mael: I didn't hack into the RD forums, my very first character, still living, has been a jeweller since he was 25 - so I've had a bit of experience with jewelery in Cantr

[Zanthos]

Jewelry is what helps to define the uppity clas from the lower class. If it is easier to obtain jewelry then the upper class will not it as much causing the lower class to not work as hard for it and then jewelry goes down the drain and nobody will want it.

That is actually how I feel.

I just did a years worth of work labour for a town to get the materials to make my (hopefully) girlfriend a diamond collar. No, its not much but the work I put into it makes it special. If jewerly is so common that giving someone a piece of it means very little, then jewerly will mean very little as well.

[SekoETC]

Recently I requested turquoise jewelry and someone mentioned that it should need a grinder (which is a polisher, I guess). This is exactly the kind of thing I don't want. Don't make it impossible for a simple girl to string some turquoise for a necklace, please. She will spend a year making a necklace if necessary but don't make it impossible for chars to make what any low tech group of people could and do make for themselves in rl.

That "someone" was me, and you didn't read all I said. What I meant is that even though complex gem jewelry, be that of turquoise or ruby or diamond or what ever, should require the grinder, it should be secured that there are also options for making primitive designs of the said resources. So don't worry, there will be a simple turquoise necklace that does not take steel or iron, I promise, and a bracelet as well. Happy now?

[Maelstrom]

Jewelry is what helps to define the uppity clas from the lower class. If it is easier to obtain jewelry then the upper class will not it as much causing the lower class to not work as hard for it and then jewelry goes down the drain and nobody will want it.

That is actually how I feel.

I just did a years worth of work labour for a town to get the materials to make my (hopefully) girlfriend a diamond collar. No, its not much but the work I put into it makes it special. If jewerly is so common that giving someone a piece of it means very little, then jewerly will mean very little as well.

Thag will be able to take some copper, hitch up his loin cloth, and pound away happily with his stone hammer to make flatteened copper discs he can thread together with sinew to make a necklace for the pretty girl in the tribe in hopes it'll help him score.

Thag will not be able to set multiple precious stones in tiny settings on an elaborate crown made of mixed metals. The visitors from another land will have those, though, and will take away all of Thag's women.

-Mael

[SuperSonicScientist]

Thag will be able to take some copper, hitch up his loin cloth, and pound away happily with his stone hammer to make flatteened copper discs he can thread together with sinew to make a necklace for the pretty girl in the tribe in hopes it'll help him score.

How will thag drill the holes through the copper?

[SekoETC]

Copper ain't drilled, copper is punched. Thag has a stone hammer and a wee splinter of stone, which is not mentioned since it's so small. Thag will place the splinter of stone on top of the copper disc like a nail and hit it with a hammer. Hopefully resulting in a hole and not a sore thumb. Seriously, metals are easy. Gems are hard.