Our Story

In 1879, John McCloy was instrumental in forming the Providence Jewelers’ Club. The name of the club in June, 1883 was changed to the New England Manufacturing Jewelers’ Association. Feeling that the association would be of more benefit to the manufacturers if a branch for business protection was instituted, Mr. McCloy in 1884 became the prime mover in the establishment of the Manufacturing Jewelers’ Board of Trade, which subsequently became The Jewelers Board of Trade.

Collecting and delivering credit report information was done via typewriters and telegraph machines.

• Occupied for 75 years, JBTs office in New York, 22 West 48th Street, was a bustling location for jewelers in Manhattan keeping the reporting department very busy.
• 64.7% of claims submitted were collected in Free Demand. An operating loss sustained by the Collection Department was directly attributable to this large percentage collected with no charge to the members.
• The New Names Bulletin created and published weekly.

• Requests for credit reports were manually pulled from the files and mailed to the member.
• Installation of Western Union Direct Wire Service between the New York and Providence Offices.
• 18 Creditors’ Committees formed by JBT to settle the financial difficulties of jewelry debtors in temporary financial trouble. Total liability involved and handled by JBT Adjustment Department totaled $2.5 million

• The Red Book now published by a computer from magnetic recording tape.
• A Telex network between New York, Chicago and Providence, and an indexed master filing system was established in Providence.
• The new Electronic Credit Interchange Program is launched as a valuable source of credit data. Five contributors and about 12,000 items of information were submitted each month.

• Credit reports were generated by the new HP3000 computer system which were printed and faxed to members from Providence.
• JBT began publishing Jewelry Industry Vital Statistics and Trends Data. New businesses, total businesses by classification, rating changes, claims placed and failures.
• Branch offices opened in Dallas, Texas and Miami, Florida.
• Added phone numbers in Red Book
• JBT Credit Hot Line launched “Talking Red Book” with over 10,000 inquiries received.

• After headquartering on Jefferson Boulevard for several decades, JBT moves to new offices at 2348 Post Road
• JBT continues to update its systems to the latest innovative technologies.
• New offerings include upgraded credit reports, online UCC filings, and an API allowing members to integrate JBT data into their own systems.