G7 Summit Pieces
In the early part of the year, approximately March, I put in a detailed submission through the Alberta Crafts Council for custom gifts intended for the leaders who were scheduled to attend the G7 Summit. The summit itself was planned to be held later in the year, around mid-June. Shortly after submitting my piece, I received a phone call inviting me to meet with the organizers at my shop within the following week. During that meeting, they discussed their ideas about what might be a suitable fit for my craftsmanship and explained who would be the recipients of the pieces I would create, should I be selected.
After a considerable amount of time passed without any news, I finally received an email at the end of April confirming that I had been chosen to create what they referred to as the Spousal Accreditation Pieces. These unique pieces were intended to be worn by the spouses of each leader throughout the duration of the summit. The process involved a thorough design phase and multiple rounds of approval, followed by the construction, which took up the majority of the timeline allocated for this project.
For each piece, I experimented by cutting three different styles of Jade cabochon before settling on the flat top design, which beautifully showcased the jade’s varying shades of green. One significant challenge was ensuring that the pieces could function either as a lapel pin or a pendant, based on the wearer's preference. To accommodate this, each piece was crafted with a removable pin, which threaded behind a tube-set lab-grown diamond. The pendant or pin was carefully made with sterling silver, British Columbia jade, accented with 14krt yellow gold, and featured a 3.1mm lab-grown diamond as a highlight. Throughout the process, the design went through several subtle iterations, but always remained close to the originally approved concept.
In total, 14 pieces were created for the spouses attending the summit. After the event concluded, I made one additional piece for my wife, which is a pendant only, serving as a personal memento of this remarkable project.
Photo credit to the Cabinet Public Affairs Office
