Articles and News

Boca Raton, FL—Jerome (Jerry) Grossbardt, founder of Asch Grossbardt and co-founder of Honora, died Sunday at his home after a short illness. He was 89.

Grossbardt co-founded Honora Jewelry with Stanley Schechter in 1947. After retiring from Honora, he and his son, Eric, founded Asch-Grossbardt with Larry Asch. Both Schechter and Asch predeceased him, but the firm Asch-Grossbardt, which specializes in designer inlay jewelry, continues today under Eric Grossbardt’s leadership, while Honora continues under Joel Schechter's leadership.

“Everything I learned about selling, I learned from Jerry,” said Joel Schecter, Honora CEO and Stanley Schechter’s son. “He had an incredible personality and passion, and people loved to be around him. He loved connecting people, and had “people skills” in the way of the old-fashioned road salesman,” he continued.

Grossbardt also had a keen eye for detail and was both passionate and exacting about design. He and Stanley Schechter first met as young men working together at a now-defunct jewelry company in New York. They quickly became friends and realized they could create much more innovative product than what they were working on. Schechter says Grossbardt would come back from Europe filled with ideas and trends. “My father would make the goods, and Jerry would go out and sell the goods,” he laughed.

Both Grossbardt and the senior Schechter were firm believers in getting involved. “They were joiners,” says Joel Schechter. “They were on every board—UJA, JVC, JSA, you name it. They weren’t just involved in ‘any’ charity, they were involved in all the charities. They both believed in giving time as well as money.”

In his retirement, Grossbardt was an avid golfer, and remained active in philanthropic causes. He is survived by his wife, Honora (Honey) Grossbardt, namesake of the company he co-founded, and son Eric, of Asch-Grossbardt.

(Top photo courtesy Steffan B. Aletti)