Waris Designs Pendant, Reveals Secret Service Past

Today is the tenth anniversary of the Clinton Foundation, and former President Clinton’s 65th birthday. (Happy retirement age, Mr. Clinton!) The William J. Clinton Foundation works to protect the environment, increase economic opportunity, and improve global health and agriculture; and to commemorate its decade of service, the Clinton Foundation is hosting a gala dinner and live auction at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.

Among the items up for bid is this one-of-a-kind, 18 carat gold pendant and black walnut box designed by fine-jeweler Waris Ahluwalia’s label, House of Waris. “I’ve always seen HOUSE of WARIS as a platform to create and collaborate with people I admire,” said Alhuwalia, who has a wide choice of friends and collaborators to celebrate. The designer’s first encounter with our 42nd President was in his college years, when he worked with the Secret Service (another surprise career for Mr. Ahluwalia!). “That should have led me into a nice career in politics—how I ended up in fashion is beyond me,” he says. Clinton must have been impressed.

The piece was made entirely by hand in New York, by a goldsmith, an engraver, and a furniture maker for the box. “It makes me proud that craftsmanship still exists here in our city,” he says. The message, “Omnia Vincit Amor” (“Love Conquers All”), is “something I believe is true and corresponds to the incredible work the Foundation has done over the years.”