FTJCo's Materials in Brief

The AKARA® label you see on FTJCo’s gold, gems and diamonds means that we have some provenance information about this material.  That information could be a date, a country of export or origin, or a social or environmental impact.

Gold

AKARA® People+Planet® Gold is our proprietary blend of 50% certified Fairmined gold from small-scale mines and 50% recycled gold, for a positive social and environmental impact.  FTJCo is the first company in the world to combine Artisanal & Recycled gold.  All rings made in AKARA® gold have a unique serial number that allows us to track the gold back to the original lots from which it was made.  You will see these serial numbers in the item descriptions of our Ready to Wear items, and on your invoice, for Made to Order pieces.

AKARA® Recycled Gold is 100% recycled gold made in Canada from a mix of pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled material.  Certified by SCS under registration number SCS-MC-02813.

AKARA® Fairmined Gold sourced from small-scale, artisanal mining communities certified under the Fairmined standard (opens in a new tab).

We are currently sourcing from Agromining Cooperative (opens in a new tab) of the Municipality of Iquira in Colombia, and Empresa Minera Oro Puno (opens in a new tab) in Peru, both under the Fairmined standard. 

Platinum 

AKARA® Recycled Platinum.  As of January 2025, FTJCo is using SCS Certified Recycled Platinum.  See the certificate here. (opens in a new tab)

Natural Diamonds

We consider any natural diamonds without specific origin or provenance information, which solely depend on the Kimberley Process for their conflict-free status, as potentially being conflict diamonds due to the lack of evidence asserting otherwise. The Kimberley Process, historically and currently, is often critiqued for its role in legitimizing conflict diamonds. Learn more about the problems with the Kimberley Process at KPCivilSociety.org (opens in a new tab). 

For natural diamonds, we prefer to work with antique diamonds (such as Old Mine or Old European cuts) or recycled ones which have been unset (either by us or others) from older pieces of jewellery—preserving their history and minimizing environmental impact. When those aren’t available, we use certified origin natural diamonds from Canada or Botswana, most commonly under the Canadamark and Botswanamark origin marks (both links open in a new tab).

Lab Grown Diamonds

8X Diamonds meet the Gem Certification and Assurance Lab (GCAL)’s stringent new standard that focuses on eight critical aspects of diamond cut quality for Round Brilliant Cut diamonds. All eight factors must achieve a grade of Excellent for the diamond to qualify for this certification. The eight metrics are: Polish, External Symmetry, Proportions, Optical Brilliance, Fire, Scintillation, Optical Symmetry, and Hearts & Arrows.  FTJCo launched the first 8X Diamonds in Canada that were also certified under the SCS Sustainability Rated 007 Standard.

Gemstones

AKARA® Modern Vintage Sapphires, Rubies, Emerald, Alexandrite & Other Gems are gemstones that predate the July 2011 OECD guidance on conflict minerals.  These are older gems that have never been sold to consumers (so they cannot be considered post-consumer recycled), neither are they old enough to be considered antique.  For these gems, we have a date and country of export.

Lab-Grown Sapphires, Rubies, Emeralds, Alexandrites & Spinels These gems are physically and chemically identical to their mined counterparts, and are available in a range of colours, shapes and sizes. Like lab grown diamonds, these gems have a smaller environmental footprint than mined gems, and cost less than their mined counterparts.

Charles & Colvard Moissanites are brand name lab-grown moissanites made by the Charles & Colvard company.  Moissanite has some properties that are similar to diamonds, and they famously enjoy a higher refractive index, meaning they bounce more light internally and are extremely sparkly. Moissanite also rates highly on the Mohs Hardness Scale, making them appropriate for daily wear. However, they cannot withstand extreme heat and must be removed from a ring before resizing. Moissanite is considered a budget-friendly alternative to both mined and lab-grown diamonds.