profile by Michael Bussiere
Ground control to Major Disegno.
PHOTO: ISTOCK
HOW OTTAWA’S PAMELA COULSTON CREATED THE FIRST JEWELLERY TO GO INTO OUTER SPACE.
anadian pride soared in 1962 with C the launch of Alouette 1 into the ionosphere. It was Canada's first satellite, and the first constructed by a country other than the Soviet Union or the United States. That made us the fourth country in space, five months following the British Ariel 1, but they needed the US and NASA to build theirs. Not to be outdone again, Canada recently marked a big FIRST in Outer Space. It is an accomplishment that should be honoured with a ticker-tape parade down Murray Street, right past Disegno Fine Jewellery. Owner/ designer Pamela Coulston created pieces carried to the International Space Station by astronaut David Saint-Jacques, making her fine jewellery designs the first to leave the confines of Earth’s atmosphere. Take that, USSR, US, and UK! Pamela launched Disegno in 1992, after studying jewellery design in California. She’d been living in Africa and on her return to Canada sought a new creative career. Her 12 OTTAWALIFE WINTER/SPRING 2021
designs have been sold in public and private galleries, museums, exclusive cruise ships from the Arctic to the Antarctic and boutiques in Canada, the US, and Europe. Disegno went street retail 13 years ago in the Glebe but soon moved to the Market once the business took off. And, no wonder it did.
While her designs are known for their simplicity (“actually, nothing is harder than ‘simple’ and ‘restrained’ when it comes to any design,” she contends), she’s a stickler for detail and quality. Disegno’s jewellery is handcrafted in platinum and in 18k yellow, white, and rose gold, but even more unusual is that Pamela is one of the very few designers in North America with a penchant for green gold. She’s even experimented with purple gold.Yes, really. Pamela is a twice-accredited gemologist – highly regarded certifications in this trade – and her bold designs feature stunning natural and unusual gems. “I rarely use common and calibrated gems,” she says, “instead, I find the oddities and design the jewellery
David Saint-Jacques took cufflinks and a pendant of the Order of Canada into space . . . the Canadian Space Agency certified and framed the items and gave them back to Rideau Hall.
ABOVE CENTRE: Order of Canada Pendant in 18k gold with a natural Canadian diamond and cuflinks in solid sterling silver. Designed and produced by Pamela Couslston of Disegno Fine Jewellery and available for purchase by recipients of the Order of Canada.
