Butte Beat: Butte’s Best Jewelry Made Me Feel Special

BUTTE, MT - Special.

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We all want to feel it. Most of us even want to make others feel it. Life definitely has it, and everything is by nature. Everyone has a quality or an experience that reflects it. All in all, it's also a paradox: everything is special, but because everything is special, nothing is.

But I'm not here today to discuss the implications or the validity of the paradox (believe it or not), but I'm here to highlight a business I recently went to and thought that it was—you guessed it—something special. However, this one is extra special because it not only made me feel special, it also is a place you go to with the intention of making others feel special.

Any guesses? I'll give you a hint: it's located inside a defunct and passed-its-heyday sprawling complex of dead capitalistic dreams that was once called "great," and is now called "not great," though it's on the verge of being called "great" again (and no, it's not America). Extra hint: it makes for quite the RIDDLE.

Going back to the beginning of my long and seemingly-pointless rant—remember, when I was musing about the essence of what "special" is—this place slaps you right in the face with specialness. I'm talking about the one and only Riddle's Jewelry, located inside the beloved relic locals refer to as the Butte Plaza Mall.

Riddle's was recommended to me by a coworker after I asked "I need something beautiful, fast, and inexpensive, because I'm a radio DJ—not an executive." Luckily, the moment I walked into Riddle's, I was presented with a sea of gorgeous jewelry, with budgets ranging from "I'm a radio DJ" to the much more respected "I'm a fast food employee," even up to the controversial "I'm a general manager."

My goal was simple: find something I can afford for my relationship's first anniversary. In other words: make my girlfriend feel special. And special she did feel when I presented her the pearl necklace and matching earring set at our favorite romantic dinner location: Arby's. Tears welled up in her eyes, and I giddily asked, "Oh, so you really like them?" She said, "No, it's this Diablo Chicken sandwich."

Seriously, though, Riddle's hooked me up. They even remembered me and asked me how our trip went when I went back, which made me feel special. And even though I have no idea what I'm talking about, they genuinely have fantastic quality in their products, making this economy feel special. Probably.

All I know is that, in the end, Riddle's has once again given me an excuse to go back into the Butte Plaza Mall, and that truly is something special.