VanderLinden Elected President of New US Jewelry Council

(IDEX Online News) – Ronnie VanderLinden, the current president of the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association of America (DMIA), was elected president of the recently-formed United States Jewelry Council (USJC).

In addition to VanderLinden’s appointment, the council elected David J. Bonaparte, president and CEO of Jewelers of America (JA) as treasurer, and Ruth Batson, CEO of American Gem Society (AGS) as secretary. James Evans Lombe, director of Ethical Initiatives, Jewelers of America, was appointed CEO of the Council.

The council said in a statement that the organization's members, whose combined memberships represent the vast majority of the US jewelry trade, understand the need to speak with a unified voice on a number of consumer-confidence related issues; social, ethical and environmental. These include environmental mining standards, factory working conditions, and full disclosure on all the materials used in a piece of jewelry. Other areas of concern include financial regulations on anti-money laundering or the international systems to prevent the use of conflict diamonds. The new body is a member of the World Diamond Council, and aims to strengthen the US jewelry industry's voice in the Kimberley Process.

"The success or failure of US-based jewelry businesses – and the entire diamond and jewelry supply chain – is in large part dependent on a healthy representation of US businesses in the national and global arena," VanderLinden said. "These challenges on the national and global scale are more than an individual association can handle alone. The US industry needs a coordinated effort to ensure we can protect consumer confidence in our product and have a say on policies that affect the livelihoods of our members."

VanderLinden’s DMIA joined the new trade body together with the American Gem Society (AGS); the Diamond Council of America (DCA); the Diamond Bourse of Southeast United States (DBSE); the Diamond Dealers Club of New York (DDC); the Indian Diamond and Colored Stone Association (IDCA); Jewelers of America (JA), the Manufacturing Jewelers & Suppliers of America (MJSA) and the Natural Color Diamond Association (NCDIA).