Plumb Club Joins Forces With JVC Ahead of FTC Jewelry Review

By Sam Cooley | September 16, 2026

The Plumb Club wants a hand in shaping the next set of federal rules for the U.S. jewelry trade, including how lab-grown diamonds may be labeled.

The supplier group of about 53 companies formed an alliance with the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC), the industry’s legal and compliance watchdog, the two organizations announced Tuesday. In addition to continuing their existing partnership, The Plumb Club will join in JVC’s advocacy work with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and with lawmakers overseeing consumer affairs.

The FTC is expected to reopen its review of the Jewelry Guides in 2027 or 2028, notes newly elected Plumb Club president Steven Lerche.

“If we’re not helping to influence those decisions, then we’re not doing the best job we can at leading the industry,” Lerche says.

He points to the latest debate percolating overseas, including at CIBJO, over restricting the term lab-grown (as opposed to “synthetic”) diamonds as an example of what’s at stake for members.

“Does the terminology ‘lab-grown’ matter to us as an industry? And if it does, how do we help fight to protect that?”

Under the arrangement, The Plumb Club will participate in JVC’s work with the FTC and with the lawmakers responsible for consumer affairs and other regulatory matters. The alliance is also intended to expand education programming across both organizations.

Lerche says the club carries less weight lobbying on its own than alongside groups already doing that work.

“To join an already budding organization and bring our expertise, our influence, and our dollars to the table, we think that we have a chance to make some real influence happen,” he says.

Michael O’Connor, marketing director at The Plumb Club, says the alliance grew out of a strategic plan developed earlier this year, which called for closer alignment with organizations active in advocacy.

“JVC has committees, and they have a lot of input specifically for the guidelines of the FTC,” O’Connor says. “They do a lot around consumer confidence.”

Many Plumb Club members are already JVC members, notes O’Connor, and the club has regularly worked with JVC to educate members on tariffs. The ongoing U.S. tariff environment made the case for a formal alliance “even more obvious,” he explains.

While JVC and The Plumb Club conduct research independently, their formalized partnership may facilitate information sharing, though those details are still being worked out.

Lerche frames the alliance as part of a broader repositioning of the club under his leadership. “I am shepherding a new age of The Plumb Club, and we want to attract anybody and everybody,” he says. “We feel that partnerships like this give us a competitive edge to set the tone for the industry.”

Founded in 1983 as a social club for manufacturers, The Plumb Club today spans the jewelry, diamond, and watch categories. JVC has served as the industry’s legal and regulatory advocate for more than 100 years.

Top: The Plumb Club logo, courtesy of The Plumb Club