Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jeweler stages ring hunt

Winning couple get diamond in retailer’s promotional event

Spokane retailer Dodson’s Jewelers will host a “diamond dash” Saturday with couples hunting for clues downtown to find and win a hidden $15,000 diamond ring.

As many as 250 couples will compete in the two-hour event, starting at about noon at the Lilac Bowl meadow in Riverfront Park.

Contestants will follow text-message clues leading them to locations to solve puzzles and find more clues.

The game ends, said Dodson’s owner Penn Fix, when one couple find and claim the ring.

The retail-game idea has been presented numerous times across the country.

The game and its wireless clue system were developed by SCVNGR, a mobile game company based in Boston. The company has promoted the same game across the country, both for retailers and for nonprofits raising money for causes.

Its scavenger hunt-style games have also been used by colleges nationwide as a way to help first-year students explore their new surroundings.

To compete, area couples must submit a love story to Dodson’s at Dodsonsdiamonddash.com. The staff will select contestants from the best stories submitted.

Fix said couples can be married or unmarried.

Dodson’s is using the contest to promote its history as a fourth-generation jewelry retailer.

“We’re also a downtown Spokane business, and this is a great way for us to bring people downtown and explore the exciting core we have,” Fix said.

“It’s also a way to look ahead,” he added. “If times are not so good right now, we wanted to do something that is progressive and promote our own business at the same time,” Fix said.