Vendor Vetting Policy

A ring is only as trustworthy as the supply chain behind it. Before any wholesaler, mounting house, stone cutter, refiner, or bench partner is allowed to touch a RingsToday order, they pass the checks on this page. This is the public version of our internal vendor-onboarding standard; we publish it so customers, regulators, and prospective vendors all know what we require.

Every U.S.- or Canada-based wholesale vendor is pulled in The Jewelers Board of Trade register before we open an account. We review:

• Current JBT credit rating, including capital tier and payment score.
• JBT collection claims (open and closed), with reason codes.
• Principal/owner background, prior business listings, and any business-failure history tracked by JBT.
• UCC filings, judgments, bankruptcy filings, and method-of-operation notes.
• Length of time the vendor has been tracked by JBT (we are cautious with vendors flagged TRK or NEW).

A vendor with a current BKR (bankruptcy), RCV (receivership), or OOB (written out of business) code is declined. A “0” payment score triggers a written explanation and a smaller starting limit. JBT data we receive is held in confidence under JBT Bylaws Article V §§3 and 8 — it is for our internal use only and is never shared, resold, or republished.

For vendors outside JBT’s coverage (e.g. overseas cutters and mounting partners), we substitute the equivalent local trade register, references from at least two existing buyers, and a startup trial order with limited exposure.

Every vendor must meet the conduct floor in our Ethical Sourcing & Materials policy §4 — labor-law compliance, no child or forced labor, no discrimination or workplace abuse, documented health-and-safety practices, and acceptance of a documentary audit on reasonable notice. We retain the signed acknowledgement with the vendor file.

• Diamonds: Natural stones require a written warranty of Kimberley Process compliance under the World Diamond Council System of Warranties. Lab-grown stones require disclosure of growth method (HPHT or CVD) and origin facility.
• Metals: Refiners must certify recycled content under SCS-103 or equivalent, or, for newly mined material, compliance with the Responsible Jewellery Council Code of Practices.
• Sanctions: We screen vendor principals against the U.S. OFAC SDN list and equivalent EU/UK lists at onboarding and quarterly thereafter. A positive match ends the relationship.

We avoid single-supplier dependencies for any critical category. For each of stones, mountings, casting, and bench work we keep at least two qualified vendors and rotate a small share of volume through the secondary so it stays warm. Vendor performance (on-time, defect rate, communication) is reviewed each quarter and the rotation is rebalanced accordingly.

• JBT rating changes on active vendors are surfaced to the concierge lead within one business day of the JBT update.
• A claim placed against an active vendor (in JBT or elsewhere) freezes new POs to that vendor pending review.
• We conduct an annual documentary refresh — insurance certificate, current ownership, audited or unaudited financials where the vendor will share them — and re-screen sanctions lists.

Customers do not see vendor identities on order documents — that is by design, because the wholesale partner naming we use across the site is intentionally neutral (“our world-renowned atelier partner”). What you can rely on is that every vendor in the chain has cleared the checks above before your ring is routed to them.

If you believe a vendor in our supply chain has acted inappropriately, you can raise it with us at concierge@ringstoday.com, or directly with the Jewelers Board of Trade at membership@jewelersboard.com / 401-467-0055. We will acknowledge within 5 business days and report back on the outcome.

See also our Industry Memberships page and the Ethical Sourcing & Materials policy.