The Plumb Club Amplifies Its Voice as Geopolitical Pressures Mount

New York—The Plumb Club has joined both Jewelers of America and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, a move the organization views as necessary next steps in its continued evolution.

In an interview with National Jeweler, Lawrence Hess, The Plumb Club’s executive director, explained that around 2017, the organization underwent a strategic overhaul that resulted in a mission to broaden its reach and positively impact the industry’s future.

The organization also came up with new tagline: “Educate. Innovate. Connect.”

Beginning in 2020, the jewelry industry, and the world, experienced drastic political and socioeconomic changes that put outside pressure on the industry, starting with the pandemic and continuing with sanctions on Russian diamonds, the skyrocketing price of gold, and tariffs.

Between the political climate and the Federal Trade Commission’s pending review of the Jewelry Guides (currently set to begin in 2028), The Plumb Club wanted to do more but recognized it would be best to do it in concert with other industry organizations.

“When we looked at the organizations that had the best chance of uniting the industry, JVC and JA were clearly the two areas where we felt we could do that,” Hess said.

The decision to join both organizations also coincides with a change in leadership for The Plumb Club.

In August, the organization announced the election of Goldstar LLC’s Steven Lerche as president of its executive committee. He is the youngest person to ever hold the position.

Hess said the next generation of jewelry industry leaders, like Lerche, tend to be more politically involved, and more engaged in what’s going on outside the industry that could potentially impact business. 

“There’s a younger generation out there and their voice is important and strong and they have great ideas,” he said. “Steven, being a part of that generation, is bringing that to the table.”

The Plumb Club was established by a small group of jewelry manufacturers in 1983 as a social club.

Over the years, it has evolved into an organization for some of the industry’s largest suppliers and service providers and is known for its large, lushly carpeted pavilion at JCK Las Vegas.

Hess said many of The Plumb Club’s individual members firms already were members of JA but joining as an organization gave its other members the opportunity to also become a part of JA’s political action committee (JAPAC, the only PAC for the fine jewelry industry) and take part in the fly-in, the group’s annual lobbying trip to Washington, D.C.

Lerche and past President and board member-at-large Roger Forman were elected to the JAPAC board.

Hess took part in the 2026 fly-in, which happened last month, his first as a member of JAPAC. 

One of the main issues currently on JAPAC’s agenda is tariffs, specifically the impact the increased import taxes are having on U.S. fine jewelry business. 

Tariffs are an issue that “cut across the entire industry,” JA President and CEO David Bonaparte said. 

The Plumb Club joining JA and its members, in turn, joining JAPAC gives the leaders of some of the country’s largest manufacturers the opportunity to have a voice in Washington.

It also contributes to JA’s efforts to grow its PAC because the larger the PAC, the more influential it can become for the industry, Bonaparte said. 

“We’re stronger together,” he said. “In the grand scheme of things, the jewelry industry isn’t the biggest thing in the world. We need a strong voice and that’s what The Plumb Club helps with.”

Hess also mentioned the lobbying JAPAC is doing to promote passage of the Combatting Organized Retail Crime Act, or CORCA. 

CORCA passed the House in May and is now awaiting Senate approval. 

“Whether it’s supplier or retailers, we want to help efforts that will help the entire industry. There’s no more supplier-retailer/us-them anymore. This has to be a group,” Hess said.

“You can’t have different voices. It just doesn’t work.” 

Hess said when it comes to JVC, it was the same situation: The Plumb Club had individual member firms that already were members but wanted to join as an organization to help the industry, particularly as the next revision to the Jewelry Guides looms.

The Jewelry Guides are guidelines the FTC provides on the terms that can be used for marketing and advertising jewelry and gemstones in the United States.

The last revision took six years, with the latest version of the guides published in July 2018.

JVC CEO and General Counsel Sara Yood said the organization will begin Jewelry Guide revisions prep work in 2027 and will establish individual committees that focus on specific areas.

She said while the attorneys who work for JVC are experts in jewelry law, they need the input of the professionals who are manufacturing and selling jewelry to help craft the industry’s recommendations and feedback for the FTC.

“Having those folks at the table with us as we construct our arguments for the FTC makes them stronger,” Yood said. “Having The Plumb Club at the table will add to the committee work we can do.”

She added: “[The Plumb Club] has such a strong and growing membership and they really are trying to offer something different to both their members and their retailer audience. I appreciate that they really care about it.

“I look forward to working with a group of businesses that want to make a difference.”

Hess also mentioned the insights JVC has provided on navigating tariffs, which he called a “minefield” for suppliers. Yood, in fact, was one of the guests on the latest episode of The Plumb Club’s podcast; the episode is titled “Tariff Tactics to Protect Your Bottom Line.”

JVC’s insights have been beneficial for The Plumb Club’s supplier members, particularly the smaller companies that do not have in-house legal teams, Hess said.

“If we can help move the needle and we can help do things that help the industry in general, it only serves to benefit our members and, by extension, their clients.”