2020: FTJCo launches AKARA People+Planet, our blend of 50% recycled gold and 50% new content from artisanal miners.

We are currently sourcing from Agromining Cooperative of the Municipality of Iquira in Colombia, under the Fairmined standard.

Premiering at the Hot Docs festival, this documentary covers the murky world of gold trading across the globe. With scenes shot in the FTJCo studio, our staff members and clients talk about gold sourcing and why origin matters.

In 2018, FTJCo, working with IMPACT, created the first legal gold supply chain connecting a conflict affected area to North America.

FTJCo travelled to Bolivia to tell the story of a mine certified under the Fairmined standard.

We were the first company in North America to use Fairtrade gold.  In 2014, we followed that up by launching Fairmined gold in North America. The gold flakes in this photo are from the first Fairtrade gold in North America which is now part of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights collection.

From 2006, we began sourcing artisanal gold from a co-operative in Colombia.  In 2008, we visited them and shot The Last Gold Rush as they underwent their audit for Fairtrade certification.

Taking inspiration from the fashion industry's use of older materials in their supply chains, we began offering gemstones that pre-exist the OECD's guidance for responsible mineral supply chains, first published in July 2011.

We found a passionate Australian cutter who sources from small scale miners in Central Queensland. We loved the variety of colours we could add to our AKARA offerings.

We began working with a company based in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom, purchasing gems that they had mined and cut themselves through their partner company Crown Gems. This allowed us to offer curated gems under our AKARA responsible sourcing brand from a new country of origin.

We introduced AKARA Montana sapphires. These gemstones are precision-cut in the United States and gem lab certified.

We began working with one of the only vertically integrated responsible mines in Madagascar, with cutting operations in Mauritius. Working with GCAL gem lab, we pioneered origin reports for these first AKARA brand gemstones.

FTJCo partnered with Scientific Certification Systems to become the first jeweller to offer diamonds that are certified as socially and environmentally responsible.

FTJCo partnered with Swarovski, a company that shares our values, to launch Swarovski diamonds in North America. At the same time, FTJCo defaulted to Swarovski-cut lab diamonds for its small diamonds below 3.5 mm.

We added vintage diamonds dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries as well as recycled diamonds to our selection of sustainable diamond offerings.

In this year, we added lab grown diamonds to our offerings as an alternative choice to conflict-free Canadian diamonds, with the added benefit of a lower carbon footprint.

We chose food security as our COVID-19 cause, donating a portion of sales to food banks local to our clients or to causes they chose.

In 2016, we were asked to re-interpret the YWCA's Women of Distinction Award. Supporting women is a core value for us, so we were honoured to have this opportunity. Every year since then, we have been making the Toronto YWCA Women of Distinction Award pins.