Jolly’s Jewelers and Silversmiths, a 130-year-old Raleigh, N.C.-based American Gem Society jeweler, has announced it is going out of business.

Owner Frank Jolly Ragsdale could not be reached for comment at press time, but told the local News Observer that “there is no further interest among the members of my family to continue operating the store.”

“I am 64 years old,” he added. “I am still in good health, and my wife and I are looking forward to some freedom that we have never experienced.”

He also told a local news station that the jewelry business was suffering from a “lack of integrity.”

“It’s an obstacle,” he said. “If you’re going to compete, you have to get in the ditch with everyone else, and I’m not going to do it.”

The store was originally founded in 1881 by Ragsdale’s great-grandfather, Benjamin Rush Jolly.

Watch an interview with Jolly.

JCK