President and CEO David Bonaparte visited Washington in April, and executives and board members will return in June for JA’s annual fly-in

Leadership from the Jewelers of America (JA) recently met with congressional leaders to support the jewelry industry’s recommendations to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding proposed changes to the Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries.

JA president and CEO David Bonaparte met with representatives on April 14, including Rep. John Shimkus, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and staff from the office of Sen. Jerry Moran, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Consumer Protection and Product Safety Subcommittee.

The FTC has proposed to allow synthetic diamond producers to use the term cultured to describe synthetic diamonds, and Bonaparte was there to argue against this denotation. 

“Use of the word cultured in conjunction with a manufactured diamond is deceptive,” Bonaparte said in a statement. “It implies that synthetic diamonds are created in a natural environment, similar to cultured pearls.”

JA executives and board members of JA’s political action committee (JAPAC) will return to Washington June 14–15 for the sixth-annual fly-in to meet with members of the House and Senate.

“Jewelers of America’s work advocating on Capitol Hill on behalf of our members and the jewelry industry is critical to the future of our industry, whether it’s supporting measures that will help jewelers or fighting to block laws that can hurt them,” said Bonaparte in a statement.

JCK