LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- After seven decades a Louisville jewelry store is closing its doors for good, leaving behind a long list of clients, stories and memories.

Moore Jewelry located near the Holiday Manor shopping plaza on Brownsboro Road is closing in October. For 71 years, it's been a diamond in the rough when it comes to local family-owned businesses dating back to the early 1950s.

"With the Derby, dad, years ago, engraved the trophies, the gold and silver trophies," co-owner Tim Moore said. "He was a hand engraver, and that's really how he started out."

Moore and his brother obtained the store from their father in the late 1980s. The Derby trophies were just the beginning of the Moore Legacy when it comes to handmade jewelry and pieces.

The family designed and crafted dozens of 14K gold and diamond Kentucky Derby Festival pins. Each one started with a wax mold and painstaking craftsmanship. To go with the Derby theme, the Moore's also created sterling silver and gold Julip cups. Each one was engraved and took more than 40 hours to make.

Several celebrities have received cups including Princess Margaret, Bob Hope, John Wayne and others.

Moore said the time is right to hang up his jeweler's loop and retire. Over the years his customers have become his extended family.

Louisville's Moore Jewelry to close doors after over seven decades

"We started with the grandmother, maybe, and then we get the daughter or the son, and then we get their kids, and then their kids," Moore said. "So that is what's so special about this store."

Moore's father's jewelry workshop eventually transitioned into a retail store, one of the first in the country where the customer can see jewelers working through windows.

While that was a first, there is one thing Moore's never had: items at a discount.

"Let's say your wife's birthday is tomorrow and we're not running a sale. But a week from then, we could run a sale. That is not fair," Moore said. "If I can sell it for 20% off a week, why couldn't I sell it for 20% off to you today?"

The doors will close for good on Oct. 29. After that, there will be a two-week auction of any remaining pieces.

While he is looking forward to retirement, Moore said memories of his store will never fade.

"Every day, some of our long-term customers will come in, and they are happy for us and then they are sad for us, too, because they are going to miss us," Moore said. "And we're definitely going to miss them."

Copyright 2022 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.