About CBDB — Captive Bead Database

What is CBDB?

CBDB — the Captive Bead Database — is a shared product catalog and data translation layer for piercing studios and body jewelry retailers. It is built and maintained by Your Factotum.

The body jewelry industry has a data problem. Every manufacturer names, codes, and categorizes their products differently. Every POS system stores that data however whoever entered it entered it. The result is a catalog full of "IS CBR 16g 5/16 3mm CZ" sitting next to "Industrial Strength Captive Bead Ring — 16ga — 5/16" — 3mm CZ" — same product, no way for software to know that.

CBDB is the clean canonical version. One record per product, consistently named, categorized, and enriched with compliance data. Your POS data maps to CBDB — not the other way around.

How the data gets in

CBDB is built from three sources, in order of preference:

Manufacturer direct

The gold standard. Product data sourced directly from the manufacturer — accurate names, SKUs, materials, and specs as the maker intends them.

Distributor feeds

Distributor catalog data, normalized and de-duplicated. Useful for breadth, but manufacturer data takes precedence where both exist.

Community contribution

Shop users can flag products missing from the catalog. Your Factotum researches and adds them. The catalog grows with what shops are actually buying.

The compliance layer

CBDB tracks supplier compliance data from the Association of Professional Piercers (APP) and the Body Jewelry Verification Program (BJVP). This includes:

APP Member

Supplier holds current APP Corporate Sponsor status.

BJVP Verified

Supplier has completed APP Body Jewelry Verification Program testing. Phase 1 covers titanium and steel; Phase 2 adds gold and platinum.

Implant Grade

Product material meets implant-grade specifications (ASTM F136 titanium, ASTM F138 steel, solid 14k/18k gold, etc.).

Mill Certs

Supplier can provide material certifications (mill certs) on request, verifying the alloy composition of their stock.

Who is this for?

CBDB is built for piercing studios and body jewelry retailers who want clean, compliant product data without building and maintaining it themselves. It is a SaaS platform — your shop gets access to the shared catalog, and Your Factotum handles the data work.

If you are interested in access, contact ivan@captivebead.com.

Built by Your Factotum

Your Factotum builds data infrastructure for specialty retailers — enriched product databases, distributor pipelines, and automation tooling. CBDB is the body jewelry vertical. The comics vertical is the Factotum Oracle Core.