Materials and Sustainability
Jill uses ethically sourced materials and strives to make as little impact as possible on the earth.
Metals
Jill uses recycled or Fairmined metals.
Fairmined gold is backed by a rigorous 3rd party certification and audit system that ensures that small entrepreneurial mining communities meet world leading standards for responsible practices. Fairmined transforms mining into an active force for good, delivering social development and environmental protection, providing everyone with a source of gold they can be proud of.
Gemstones
Jill carefully sources her gemstones to make sure they are extracted with regulated methods and with fair labor through both mining and cutting.
Her rose cut focal point stones are Canadian diamonds. Canadian diamond mines are known as some of the most environmentally regulated in the world; these diamonds are able to be traced from mine to market and go above and beyond Kimberley certification with track-ability. The diamonds Jill uses in her designs are natural and often have inclusions which vary from diamond to diamond. Jill is drawn to stones with interesting "imperfections" as these add to the originality of each unique piece.
Smaller round brilliant accent diamonds are also Canadian diamonds. These diamonds are certified conflict free Harmony Canadian Diamonds from the Canadian Artic. When Canadian diamonds cannot be sourced Jill uses repurposed/recycled diamonds purchased from reputable suppliers. If accent diamonds are unable to be sourced from either of these methods, Jill occasionally purchases conflict free Kimberley certified diamonds.
Sapphires are sourced from the US (Montana), Malawi, or Australia. These sapphires are able to be tracked from mine to market to ensure fair mining and humane labor. Representatives from the gem companies she works with to source these sapphires travel to the mines and cutting facilities to ensure that they are ethical. Most of her sapphires are sourced from Columbia Gem House (Vancouver, WA), which is able to provide mine to market traceability and defines it's mission as "fair trade and responsibly sourced."