The Million Dollar Eggs

Russian 101 continued...

The Faberge Eggs were made by Peter Carl Faberge from 1885-1917 for Russia's imperial family and others. The large ones are approximately 5 inches tall and covered in precious metals and jewels. There are thousands of smaller ones often worn as necklaces. These eggs began when Alexander III commissioned Faberge to create an Easter gift for his wife. The eggs are famous for having a surprise nested inside each one, such as a miniture crown adorned with rubies for instance. Nicholas II continued the Faberge Egg tradition until his death in 1917. With the Bolsheviks in power, many of the eggs were dispersed around the world or sold. Joseph Stalin had many of the eggs sold in 1927 in order to acquire foreign currency.

There were 65 large eggs produced but only 57 have survived to the present. Of the 65, 50 were imperial eggs, those made for the tsars; 8 of those have never been found. The Kremlin has 10 of them, the largest single collection in the world.

The most expensive egg created was the 1913 Winter Egg. In 1913, it cost approximately $12,500. It sold in 2002 for $9.6 Million! It has 1660 diamonds and made from quartz, platinum, and orthoclase. The surprise inside is a gold and platinum basket with 1378 diamonds.

The 1913 Winter Egg: