Our Trademarks

These are the two trademarks that represent FTJCo Fine Jewellery as makers, they are also referred to as ‘Makers Marks’. Our first logo was a peacock, a symbol of Hera, the Greek goddess of marriage. We gave our branding a refresh in 2022, updating and simplifying our trademark. Our current trademark is the “Co” from our FTJCo logo. 

This trademark represents the FTJCo sub-brand, Parliament. 

These marks indicate the karat of gold used to make your jewellery. All FTJCo pieces are made in either 18K gold or platinum, while our Parliament collection is made in 14K gold and silver.

Twenty-four karat gold is pure or ‘fine’ gold, while 18K is made of 75% pure gold and 25% alloy metal. The alloy makes it stronger, less expensive, and allows us to change the colour of the gold. Fourteen karat gold is made with 58% pure gold and 42% alloy.

Note that our white gold is alloyed with palladium, a metal in the platinum family. Most North American jewellers use nickel to alloy white gold, but this can cause skin irritation, and leaves a yellowish tint to the white gold, so for both reasons it is usually rhodium plated. Our palladium white gold is not plated, and does not cause irritation!

This stamp means a jewellery piece is made from platinum. Platinum is 95% pure platinum and 5% alloy, which gives the metal better working properties. Platinum jewellery is more expensive than gold jewellery for several reasons: because of platinum's relative rarity, and because it is more dense, requiring more metal weight to make the same ring. Additionally, because it uses less alloy, you need more pure platinum versus the amount of fine gold in a comparable piece of jewellery.

This trademark indicates sterling silver, which is 92.5% ‘fine’ or pure silver. The remaining 7.5% is made up of alloy metals, such as copper and zinc. At FTJCo we make our sample and loaner rings in sterling silver, as well as pieces from our Parliament collection.

This is the Canada National Mark. The right to use this mark is granted to jewellery that is made in Canada. To qualify for this trademark we passed an inspection of our manufacturing processes. This mark is your assurance that your ring was made to Canadian standards, using Canadian labor, in Canada.

This symbol is used only on products that are certified Fairtrade by the Fair Trade Labelling organization. For a time, gold and silver was dual certified as Fairtrade and Fairmined, but those organizations have since gone their separate ways. We retain a small amount of dual certified sterling silver, which we used to make the YWCA Women of Distinction award pins from 2016–2024. From 2025–onward they are made in certified recycled sterling silver.

Metals that meet the qualifications for Fairmined certification are indicated with this trademark. Fairmined gold is sourced from artisanal and small-scale mining organizations who meet world leading standards for responsible practices.

We offer clients the choice of 100% Fairmined gold, or our in-house blend of half Fairmined and half Certified Recycled gold. 

“AKARA” is an in-house brand at FTJCo. In the context of jewellery trademarks, it indicates our unique blend of half Certified Fairmined and half Certified Recycled gold. This is our default gold, which is alloyed in our studio by our team of goldsmiths. In the context of gemstones, the AKARA label indicates that we have provenance information about the gem’s origins. 

The AKARA symbol evolved from the original FTJCo peacock logo, it is a feather from our peacock maker’s mark.

“Just Gold”is a trademark of IMPACT.

In 2017 we partnered with NGO IMPACT and FTJCo’s sister company, Consensas, to make the first legal import of Congolese gold to North America for the Just Gold project. This allowed conflict-affected artisanal miners to access the legal market.

IMPACT, formerly Partnership Africa Canada, has been transforming how natural resources are managed in areas where security and human rights are at risk for over 30 years.