It was my great honor this week to be inducted into the 24 Karat Club of the City of New York! The esteemed organization—best known for hosting 1,000-plus people at its annual black-tie gala, held every January at the Waldorf Astoria—has just 200 members at any given time, so an invitation to join is coveted and rare. The club is made up mostly of jewelry manufacturers and wholesalers, but it also has a few “service sector” members (trade shows, trade publications, associations), of which I am now one.Founded in 1901, the 24 Karat Club is almost as old as JCK (which dates to 1869), and like the magazine, it traces its roots back to the days when the ­­jewelry industry was headquartered on New York City’s Maiden Lane. The club’s ­origin can be traced to the 1900 McKinley-Roosevelt Victory Dinner (McKinley was a Republican backed by the jewelry industry for his election plan