Editor’s Note
A Fabergé egg has set a new auction record, underscoring the enduring allure and immense value of these historic jeweled creations.
The last privately owned jeweled ‘Fabergé egg’ was auctioned on the 2nd, fetching £22.9 million (approximately 4.7 billion yen) including fees. This sets a new record price for a work by the Russian jewelry house Fabergé ever sold at auction.
The ‘Winter Egg’, commissioned in 1913 by Russian Tsar Nicholas II as a gift for his mother, was won by an anonymous bidder after roughly three minutes of bidding at Christie’s auction house in London, UK. The final price slightly exceeded the pre-sale estimate of £20 million.
The astronomical price reflects how rare the Imperial-era ‘Imperial Eggs’ crafted by the Fabergé workshop have become. The workshop produced only 50, of which just 7 remain in private hands. The others are either lost or held by institutions like museums.
In an emailed statement, Margo Oganesian, Head of Fabergé and Russian Works of Art at Christie’s, said this new record reaffirms its “enduring importance” and “once again proves the rarity and brilliance of a work widely considered one of Fabergé’s masterpieces, both technically and artistically.”
These Imperial Eggs were made for Nicholas II and his predecessor Alexander III, given to family members as Easter gifts between 1885 and 1916. Each design and creation took about a year, with the Tsar typically ordering a new piece soon after the latest was delivered.
Ahead of the auction, Oganesian described the ‘Winter Egg’ as the “most magnificent, artistically original, and unusual work” among the 50.
Made primarily of rock crystal (transparent quartz), the egg is designed to resemble a frost-covered block of ice, with a snowflake pattern on the exterior crafted from platinum and 4,500 rose-cut diamonds. Inside hides Fabergé’s signature ‘surprise’: a small hanging basket filled with wild strawberry flowers made of white quartz, nephrite, and garnet.
The egg was designed by Alma Pihl, a rare female jeweler for her time. Legend has it she drew inspiration from seeing ice crystals forming on the window next to her workbench.
According to an invoice published by Christie’s, Nicholas II purchased this piece for 24,600 rubles, reportedly the third-highest amount Fabergé ever charged for a work.
According to Kieran McCarthy, co-managing director of the UK antique jewelry specialist Wartski, which specializes in Fabergé, the piece’s price reflects the craftsmanship required to “transform precious materials into a moment of nature.”