American Gem Society
The American Gem Society (AGS), founded in 1934, is a nonprofit trade association of fine jewelry professionals dedicated to setting, maintaining and promoting the highest standards of ethical conduct and professional behavior through education, accreditation, recertification of its membership, gemological standards, and gemological research.
The Society is committed to providing educational products to inform and protect the consumer and to contributing to the betterment of the trade by creating industry standards to protect the jewelry-buying public and the fine jewelry industry as a whole.
Only one in twenty jewelers have met the exacting requirements necessary for membership. To join the AGS, every member must go through a peer-reviewed application process followed by an annual recertification exam. This process ensures that every AGS member you meet is at the top of their game, and more importantly, each one has pledged to protect you, the consumer.
Jewelers associated with the American Gem Society are dedicated to consumer protection, ethical business practices and development of superior gemological skills and knowledge. Consumers can buy with confidence from an experienced and ethical American Gem Society Jeweler.
AGS Ethical Practices
In order to maintain membership, jewelers in the American Gem Society agree to:
- Provide full disclosure of all facts pertaining to the products they sell.
- Never intentionally deceive their employees, consumers, vendors, or business partners.
- Compete fairly and never speak unprofessionally about their competitors. Likewise, encourage their colleagues in the jewelry industry to embrace these principals.
- Resolve any customer complaints relating to the sale of a product.
- Not sell conflict diamonds. AGS jewelers must make every effort to fully comply with the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the World Diamond Council System of Warranties.
- Continue their gemological and jewelry education, always improving their knowledge and keeping up with trends in jewelry and ethical business practices.
- Adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) program, which is designed to comply with the USA Patriot Act.
Under the guidelines for “Social and Human Rights Practices,” AGS jewelers are required to respect the fundamental human rights of all their employees, business partners, and, of course, their customers. They must adhere to all applicable laws related to work hours and compensation and they must conduct business in an environmentally responsible manner.
Jewelry Studio is proud to be the only American Gem Society Registered Jeweler and Certified Gemologist in the Bozeman area. Jewelry Studio has been an AGS jewelry store since 2015.
