Why faberge eggs

Since this was a position that few jewelers received, there was pressure to make spectacular gifts. Each egg was different. The twisting of platinum below the egg has fine detail as angels rise up towards the base of the egg and support it. The egg is clear and colorless, made of glass, with small leaves etched into the smooth shell.

Even more eye catching is the deep royal blue box sitting within the egg, tiny diamonds lying along the top edge and a gold horse standing upon it all. His young wife, Maria Flodorovna was born Dagmar of Denmark, but was sent away from her family for an arranged marriage to the Tsar of Russia. Feeling alone and in a foreign land, Maria suffered from homesickness and depression.

Maria was delighted with the exquisite egg and so it became a tradition that the eggs would be made, two each year, as gifts for the wives and mothers of the aristocracy. A happy Easter indeed. Some are in private collections, some are in museums and some have vanished without a trace. After that, its location became unknown. This egg was richly set with diamonds, rubies and emeralds , and was intended to hold beauty tools, such as hairpins and makeup brushes.

As for its whereabouts now? Presented to Empress Alexandra by Tsar Nicholas II as a memento of their coronation, this egg is sheathed in multicolored gold embellished with enamel.

The piece contains a removable miniature replica of a coach built for Catherine the Great that was used to transport subsequent generations of Romanov rulers to and from ceremonies. At the other, narrower end, a smaller portrait diamond is set within a cluster of rose diamonds surrounded by a flower motif made of 20 narrow gold petals. At this end, the portrait diamond covers the date. The egg disappeared from public record and was feared lost until—unbeknownst to seller or buyer—it traded hands at an antiques stall in the U.

A Midwestern scrap dealer had purchased the egg in hopes of turning a quick profit, but he soon found that the money he could get for its parts would not cover his investment. Today the egg is part of a private collection. Inside the rose were two more surprises since lost : a golden crown with diamonds and rubies, and a cabochon ruby pendant. It is now part of the Viktor Vekselberg Collection displayed at St.

The custody history of this piece offers a snapshot of the varying levels of interest the eggs have held for prominent private and public collectors over the past century.

The egg was adorned with diamonds and sapphires, and it opened to reveal a clock. He then had trouble selling it, as potential buyers deemed it overpriced. The dealer had valued it incorrectly—but not the way he originally thought. Its value? Alexander was then in the fifth year of his reign, having succeeded his father, Alexander II, who had been killed by bomb-wielding assassins.

In , Alexander sought an Easter gift to surprise and delight his wife Maria Feodorovna, who had spent her early years as a Danish princess before leaving Copenhagen to marry him and become a Russian empress. But the real treasures were to be found inside. The egg twisted apart to reveal a golden yolk within.

Inside the yolk was a golden hen sitting on golden straw.