The Plumb Club Helps Retailers And Consumers Upgrade Their Jewelry IQs
By Kyle Roderick, Forbes Contributor
In a recently conducted consumer research survey of over two thousand U.S. individuals conducted by The Plumb Club, 78 percent stated that, “Knowing more about a store’s responsible business practices would make them more likely to purchase.” What’s more, 94 percent commented that, “they would be willing to pay more for ethically sourced products.” Toward that end, members of The Plumb Club, a U.S.-based organization which numbers over 50 premier diamond, jewelry and watch suppliers and manufacturers, works to inform retailers and consumers looking for authoritative, third-party documentation that a gem, jewelry or watch company is doing environmentally, socially, economically and ethically responsible business. The Plumb Club is involved in this effort because presenting third-party assurances of an item’s sourcing and production history builds customer trust, drives sales and thus fortifies the gem, jewelry and watch industries.
The Plumb Club Works To Create A More Responsible Industry
The Plumb Club is leading a timely crusade, for while U.S. FTC laws prohibit jewelry companies from making unsubstantiated environmental or sustainability claims in their advertising and labeling, enforcement remains an ongoing problem. (Many manufacturers, retail stores, designers and e-tailers employ unqualified terms like “eco-friendly” or “sustainable” without supplying unassailable scientific evidence that backs up their explicit or implied “green” claims.)
Despite the FTC guidelines, the use of vague and imprecise terms like “eco-friendly” and “sustainable” remains unregulated due to the FTC’s limited reach. This situation creates opportunities for companies to trumpet trivial environmental benefits while never mentioning the harmful impacts involved in sourcing and/or manufacturing materials for the items that they sell. Prevalence of false claims makes it difficult for environmentally conscious consumers to tell the difference between truly eco-friendly innovations and marketing falsehoods. This inevitably fuels consumer fatigue and skepticism, noted Plumb Club member Michael Lerche, the CEO of Goldstar Jewellery and a Responsible Jewellery Council board member.
The Responsible Jewellery Council booth in The Plumb Club Pavilion at JCK Las Vegas provides retailers and the media with information regarding its codes, practices and overarching mission.
The Responsible Jewellery Council & Plumb Club Work Together
“The term ‘sustainability’ has been used so loosely across so many industries,” Lerche opined, “that consumers have tuned it out — and the jewelry industry hasn’t done a great job translating what real, third-party certifications actually mean for the jewel they are wearing.” Speaking of real or evidence-based third party certification standards: since 2019, The Plumb Club has required any business seeking to join its ranks to first become a certified member of the Responsible Jewellery Council (RJC).
The Plumb Club is also the first-ever member organization to require RJC membership as part of its qualifications for acceptance. Based in London, the RJC is a global leader in auditing and certifying responsible jewelry, diamond and watch suppliers and manufacturers. For a fee, the non-profit RJC audits companies’ environmental impacts, workplace conditions, employee compensation, corporate governance and other business practices. The companies are audited against the established RJC Standards (Code of Practice, Chain of Custody, and Lab Grown Standards).
Alerting Consumers To The Premium Values of RJC-Certified Gems, Jewels, Watches and Companies
Equally important, the RJC guides them as they work to improve all of the above. As Lerche opined, “A smarter industry is a stronger industry, and that’s the heartbeat of The Plumb Club. Through our Consumer Research Study, education at major trade shows such as JCK Las Vegas, and our member-driven website content, we are raising the gem and jewelry IQ of retailers, manufacturers, and consumers. When all three know more, the whole industry wins.” The Plumb Club’s messaging also conveys to retailers how more of their customers are making purchasing decisions based on the values represented by organizations like the RJC. While The Plumb Club communicates consistently to retailers about what it means for a supplier to be RJC-certified, it also informs them of what a complicated, labor-intensive, lengthy and yet ultimately worthwhile process that can be. One of The Plumb Club’s on-going projects involves advising retailers on how to explain the intrinsic value of RJC-certified products to their employees so that they can share this story with customers.
Ethical Imperatives To Provide Proof Of Responsible Sourcing And Production
Other members of The Plumb Club, like Lerche, also have led their companies towards obtaining evidence-based third-party sustainable certifications. Dave Meleski, who is presently the Chairman of the RJC Board, has been President of Richline Group since 2007, during which time he expanded this jewelry business to a multinational operation based across four continents. (He became CEO of Richline Group in 2018.) Meleski recounted his commitment to responsible sourcing and sustainable practices, plus his work with the RJC and The Plumb Club, in an email.
Plumb Club Member Dave Meleski is the Chairman of the Responsible Jewellery Council Board and has been President of Richline Group since 2007.
“Richline was created in 2007 when Dennis Ulrich and I got together and sold our businesses (Bel Oro/Michael Anthony and Aurafin) to Berkshire Hathaway,” he recalled. “Aurafin was one of the founding members of the RJC back in 2005, and under the Berkshire umbrella. I believed then that sustainable sourcing was not only a way to positively differentiate our company, but that it was the right thing to do.” As he asserted, “Our principles and requirements around sustainability and sourcing have always been more rigorous than the RJC standards. We continue to require every participant in our supply chain,” he explained, “whether their company is owned or contracted, to operate at these higher standards, and all have been certified accordingly.”
The Plumb Club has recently established new Chain of Custody and Lab Grown diamond standards.
At this year’s edition of the JCK show (a trade-only event), in the Venetian Expo, The Plumb Club Pavilion is open from May 29 to June 1, 2026, located on Level 2. Within that Pavilion, attendees will find the The Plumb Club Business Offices, where Plumb Club staff will be answering inquiries and distributing educational materials to support retailers in their quest to communicate accurate information about the materials and processes involved in the products that they are selling. In addition, retailers can tour the newly designed Plumb Club Website, which incorporates The Jewelers Resource Center, a tool to help educate them so that they can provide the most up-to-date accurate information to consumers.
Online Jewelers Resource Center Educates Retailers And Consumers
The Plumb Club president, Roger Forman, explained how online communications play a vital role in communicating The Plumb Club’s values, mission, retail and consumer advisories. “We created a robust website, the Jewelers Resource Center, which exists within The Plumb Club at www.plumbclub.com,” he began. “The Jewelers Resource Center is where retailers or end consumers can find answers to a wide array of jewelry-related questions.” As Forman put it, “The online Jewelers Resource Center has been a huge success with annual sessions numbering approximately 200,000 visits. We regularly update it with content covering all topics related to the jewelry industry. Although there is a vast amount of useful information there,” he clarified, “the site is primarily intended as a business-to-business tool to help the retail community convey accurate information to their customers.” If consumer questions do arise, Forman observed, “The Plumb Club tries to direct consumers to known and trusted retailers.”
Upgrading Retail Knowledge, Educating and Protecting Consumers
The Plumb Club president Roger Forman explained how the online Jewelers Resource Center exists within The Plumb Club website to educate retailers and jewelry shoppers.
Forman, like Lerche, is a jewelry industry veteran. He has long been advocating for manufacturers to work with outside auditors like the RJC and SCS Global Services to make their businesses and workplaces more environmentally sustainable, ethically sound and safe, so that they then can be certified as such. Such certifications in turn enhance retailer-customer communication while building trust. Forman is the president of Marathon Company, a family-owned jewelry manufacturer founded in 1897 and based in Attleboro, Massachusetts. A leading U.S. manufacturer of children’s jewelry, Marathon is also known for fine women’s lockets, bracelets, and religious jewels. According to Forman, The Plumb Club is an “all-for-one” and “one-for-all” media enterprise, as well as a member organization. “When topics of interest arise that the club can use to educate, we create marketing materials and content to help our retailers work with their end consumers. We pool all of our resources to create this collateral. A perfect example of this,” he continued, “is a piece we did on Lab-Grown versus Natural diamonds that explains the properties of each and their different places in the market. Our members distributed these to our retailers, who then trained their sales staffs using the information we provided.”
Underscoring The Plumb Club’s commitment to educating and communicating to retailers about why RJC certification is meaningful, supported by science and good for the planet, Lerche emphasized, “Unless we make the story simple, specific, and emotionally relevant, even the most rigorous standards will stay invisible to the people they’re designed to protect.”
