The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) has begun a new membership drive that is designed to promote the jewelry industry as an honorable profession to consumers.

JVC is calling the drive ”Integrity is Good for Business.” It coincides with the organization’s recent approval of new standards and compliance practices for the industry. And JVC is mandating that all of its members sign on to the standards.

After a jeweler signs the detailed membership agreement, JVC members will receive a framed certificate promoting their commitment to follow U.S. law. Cecilia Gardner, JVC executive director and general counsel, says they should hang the certificate in their store in plain view of customers. Second, Gardner is encouraging all JVC members to use the JVC logo whenever possible.

”The JVC logo is a recognized symbol of integrity and trust,” Gardner says. ”Displaying it provides tremendous benefits to our members in building credibility with our customers.”

Gardner says the JVC membership standards and compliance practices represent a ‘benchmark’ for the industry. ”We felt it was time for specifics on what it means to be a JVC member,’ Gardner told JCK during a press conference at the JA New York Show. ‘Members must sign a pledge, showing their commitment to JVC standards of enforcement.”

Esther Fortunoff, chief executive of Fortunoff’s and longtime JVC member, says that for the past three years, the JVC, under Gardner’s leadership, has been instrumental in providing the information jewelers need in a way that they could easily understand and communicate to their customers.

The creation of the membership standards and compliance practices takes the effort one step further, she says. And it’s what the industry has been requesting.

”They have done an excellent job of educating the industry and consumers on the laws,” Fortunoff says. ”They are proactive when it comes to educating the industry on being compliant with the law.”

JCK