History of Grant Laughter Jewelry
Grant Laughter Jewelry is the second generation of Laughters to carry the family name in Western North Carolina for fine jewelry. My father, John Laughter started his first jewelry store with Keith Shelley in 1973 in downtown Hendersonville called Shelley’s Jewelry at the age of 19. After 29 years he opened his 5th store in South Asheville in 2002 in the Dingle Creek Shopping Center. When his mentor passed away he changed the name from Shelley’s Jewelry to John Laughter Jewelry and continued to gain a good name in the community. When dad retired in 2018, I had the opportunity to carry on the Laughter legacy of excellency in fine jewelry with Grant Laughter Jewelry.
I started working for my father when I was a small child, he would put me around the goldsmiths shop and sprinkle cubic zirconias on the floor for me to find. Cleaning, sweeping and all around organizing when I was slightly older grew into taking in repairs for clients and working on simple designs and jewelry remodeling. Diamond and gemstone education came through the years and then gold and platinum smith apprenticing to learn the finer mechanics of what makes a fine piece of jewelry. In 2005 I started working with John in developing the finer points of superlative jewelry in his South Asheville store. After a few years I took over the daily operations and management of the store.
I recognized in 2012 that we can make a difference locally and globally with our “Green Jewelry” initiative. My goal was to have 95% of our jewelry be upcycled, recycled, or low impact, and we achieved that goal in 2016. My goal is to have jewelry you can be proud to wear knowing that it is conflict free, low impact and providing a living wage for the workers involved.
My heart lies in searching the world for the unique one of a kind gemstones and diamonds, the special type of pieces that create a family legacy that your children always want to wear.
Grant Laughter Jewelry endeavors, through the teachings of Christ, to operate with transparency in our procedures, honesty in our pricing, fairness in our interactions, and clarity in our communication. Our life’s work is to help anyone who comes into our store to create or find the perfect physical representation of their emotions. Designing experiences into fine jewelry.
My son Aldrick now comes to the store and searches for cubic zirconias much the same way I did at his age. We are three generations strong for Laughters in Asheville for fine jewelry, and we hope to see you, your children and grandchildren to come.
I invite you to come to my store and let me introduce you to our amazing team of professional jewelers, diamondtologists, and gem experts. “The jeweler with a good name” in Asheville who has been helping your community for generations, Grant Laughter Jewelry.
Grant Laughter
