JBT, the Jewelers Board of Trade, is the principal credit reporting and trade information body for the American jewellery industry. Founded in 1884 in Providence, Rhode Island and continuously operating since that date, JBT publishes credit ratings, member directories and industry statistics covering wholesale and retail jewellery firms across the United States. The organisation is structured as a cooperative whose members are the jewellery firms themselves, who supply ledger experience and other commercial information that becomes the basis of the published credit reports.

Function

The principal service offered by JBT is the credit rating of jewellery industry firms. Each firm covered by the JBT system receives a published rating consisting of an estimated capital range, a payment history grade, and supplementary information including ownership, operating history, and ledger experience supplied by trading partners. Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers use these ratings in extending trade credit, in assessing new accounts, and in routine due diligence.

JBT also operates a register of members, a directory service for the wider trade, an industry-statistics programme that publishes counts of new jewellery business openings and closings, and a series of other commercial services. The organisation works closely with industry trade bodies including Jewelers of America, the American Gem Trade Association and the Manufacturing Jewelers and Suppliers of America.

Position in the Industry

The American jewellery industry has a long-established convention of trading on relatively long credit terms, and JBT's role as the trusted source of credit information has consequently been central to the operation of the wholesale trade. Memorandum trading, in which inventory is consigned to retailers without immediate payment, is widespread, and the JBT rating is one of the principal mechanisms by which exposure is managed in such arrangements.

Reform and Modern Operation

JBT has updated its methods periodically since the 1980s to incorporate electronic data feeds, online portal access and automated ledger experience reporting. The organisation has also addressed concerns about confidentiality, accuracy and the use of credit data in legal proceedings through revised procedures and rating policies. The Providence headquarters and the cooperative governance structure remain consistent with the founding model.