The cash family tradition in the jewelry industry goes back for over 90 years, dating back to 1930. William edwin endicott, better known as “bill,” the great grandfather of current owner, Jim Cash iii, established his first jewelry store in 1930 in Pawnee, oklahoma, During world war ii, bill moved to forrest city, arkansas, and opened up his second jewelry store. by the end of the war, he was operating two locations, one in forrest city, and one in eureka springs. after discovering that the u.s. government had no rules or regulations on their government issued pocket watches, he took it upon himself to literally “write the book” on watch repair procedures and guidelines.

In 1949, bill moved to gilbert, ar with his wife and 5 children. one of these children, betty lorene endicott, fell in love with a young man named Jim cash, sr., better known as “Jg.” they were married at 19 years old on christmas day in 1952. Married for 62 years, they had two children, bethel and Jim Jr. Jg worked in the log woods and sawmills until one day he observed his father-in-law repairing a watch. bill saw the curiosity and interest in his son-in-law’s eyes, and asked him if he thought he could do it. JG replied simply and firmly, “yes.” this started a lifelong love affair with the jewelry industry, with jg receiving his first job from his father-in-law after bill received a contract from the air force to repair clocks and watches. he worked for bill for three years, before heading to college in 1955. after a short time in california, preparing pipe clamps, jg returned to his love of jewelry, working for various stores in springfield and st. louis, mo, and euless, tx. in 1964, jg had an opportunity to lease his first store in springdale, ar, in an up and coming retail store called wal-mart. for nearly 20 years, jg and his wife betty managed and operated 29 locations in wal-marts, until 1983, when sam walton bought out the leases. the original jewelry store safe owned by mr. jim cash, sr. can be seen on display at the wal-mart museum in bentonville, ar.

after his father retired from the jewelry industry, jim cash, jr. took it upon himself to open a jewelry business in the fort smith area. jim moved his wife and two sons to fort smith, into a 2 bedroom duplex. he worked long hours, often 12 hour days, as he developed his business and grew it from the ground up. Located in the central mall, the diamond center became a fort smith staple for fine jewelry, excellent customer service, and a personal approach to each and every customer interaction. both of jim, Jr.’s sons grew up in the industry, and would soon become a part of the cash family legacy.

in 2016, Jim cash iii became the fourth generation of his family to be in the jewelry business. Almost 30 years after their father opened his store, Jim iii and his brother, zach, purchased the store from their father. zach has since stepped into another, related field, leaving jim iii as the owner and operator of diamond center. in 2016, he opened a second location in fayetteville, in the nwa mall, to serve northwest arkansas. in november of 2020, jim took the store out of the mall and into a brand new, free-standing building, in which it currently resides. a year later, he moved the fayetteville location to its own free-standing location on dickson street.

the diamond center is proud of its heritage, and the legacy of love that we have created, both in our own family, and in the lives of those who we have faithfully served for all of these years. we look forward to the generations to come, and all of the stories that we will be a part of!