Fast-forward 47 years and you can still find her in Summer Street's Regency Jewellers, now as the company's group sales manager.

"It's basically shaped my life," she said on her career with the store.

"I started when I was 15. Since then I've gotten married, had children and had grand-children. It's really nice to have grown up in the business."

Although she has had stops at other businesses - including running her own after moving away from Orange - whenever she comes back to the city, she has always gravitated to Regency.

"Every time I come back, I always come back here," she said.

"I didn't realise when I first started how much there was to learn and I didn't think I would be here for so long. But the company is awesome and it has been a really satisfying career."

Mrs Linklater has now worked at the company for 29 straight years and said a lot has changed since she was first hired back in February of 1975.

"Now we sell mostly jewellery, it's our biggest seller, but we used to sell trophies and we used to sell lottery tickets," she added.

"When the shop was down in the bottom block in the Hotel Canobolas building which is where I started, we sold lottery tickets at the desk, heaps of trophies and heaps of giftware, but there's just not very much call for it now.

"It's a bit sad to see all of it go because it really was nice selling those high-end pieces, but now it's more diamonds which is what we're specialising here."

Having the ability to get to know their customers is something Mrs Linklater says she holds dear.

"You get satisfaction out of somebody being able to get that purchase of an engagement ring and know that it's something they'll have forever," she added.

"I run into people now who tell me I sold them their engagement ring 30 years ago.

"The most satisfying thing though is when people come in to buy gifts, especially at Christmas time. Then on Christmas morning you think to yourself 'I wonder how so-and-so liked that present'."

She even managed to sum up her love for the job with one succinct sentence.

"It's nice to work around beautiful things."

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