There are now seven missing Imperial Easter Eggs. They are the Eggs for the years 1886, 1888, 1889, 1897, 1902, 1903 and 1909. And yes, they are all seven Maria Feodorovna's Eggs!
There were thousands of Fabergé pieces in the palaces of the Romanovs, most now scattered across far away lands in the many collections around the world now. Of the fifty Imperial eggs made, only ten remain in the Kremlin. Eight Imperial eggs are still missing.
Finding the egg. The Russian word for "clock" and "watch" is the same. In March 1902, an egg identical to the egg recovered in 2012 was photographed in situ with other treasures of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna in the Von Dervais Mansion Exhibition in St. Petersburg.
It was eight, but last year a scrap-metal dealer bought what he thought was a gold ornament, he was planning to melt down, but he later discovered it was the Third Imperial Easter Egg and worth over $30 million! The egg was sold to a mystery buyer, but the other missing baubles could worth up to $45 million each.
An unknown private collector owns the most expensive Fabergé egg, the Third Imperial Easter Egg, valued at $33 million. The Hermitage Museum in Russia holds the second most expensive Fabergé egg, the Rothschild Clock Egg valued at $25.1 million.
The Kremlin Armory in Moscow holds the largest collection of imperial Fabergé eggs in the world. House of Fabergé was commissioned to craft imperial Easter eggs for the royal family for 11 Easters, and in that time, constructed some of history's finest, most valuable works of objet d'art.
The most famous are his 52 "Imperial" eggs, 46 of which survive, made for the Russian emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their wives and mothers. Fabergé eggs are worth millions of dollars and have become symbols of opulence.
...the Fabergé Imperial Easter eggs featured in the Series
Petersburg society. At the command of Czar Alexander III, Peter Carl Fabergé would produce an Imperial Easter egg for Maria Fedorovna - and later also one for Czarina Alexandra - almost every year, until the fall of the Romanov dynasty.
And like the Easter eggs you may find hidden in your shrubs or gutters, these eggs were also intended to contain a surprise inside. Initially the first Fabergé egg was to contain a diamond ring, but after specific instructions given by the Emperor, the egg could be opened to find a ruby pendant instead.
Next to branded Fabergé items, the world market has been continuously supplied with imitation "Fauxbergé" objects and "Fabergé-style" products. Today, the brand is owned by a company called Fabergé Limited and is used solely for jewellery items and gem stones.
To tell if a Fabergé egg necklace is real, first look for one of the brand's hallmarks. The jewelry house's markings varied widely over the years but often featured the name in Cyrillic or a head shown in profile beside a number. A licensed appraiser can help you accurately assess the authenticity of your necklace.
There are only 50 Imperial Easter Eggs in the world, including the nine sold to Vekselberg by the Forbes family. Ten are in the Moscow Kremlin Collection, five are at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Va., and Britain's Queen Elizabeth owns three. The whereabouts of eight are unknown.
As of December 2021, Elizabeth II the Queen of England owned four Fabergé eggs. Three of the pieces in her collection are original Imperial eggs. Her grandparents, King George V and Queen Mary, purchased them. Find a selection of Fabergé jewelry on 1stDibs.
Collecting Fabergé became a royal pastime, and since then, over six generations, the family has amassed 800 pieces in the Royal Collection, with acquisitions made up to this reign.
Octopussy (1983)
A fake Fabergé egg, and a fellow Agent's death, lead James Bond to uncover an international jewel-smuggling operation, headed by the mysterious Octopussy, being used to disguise a nuclear attack on N.A.T.O. forces.
The most expensive egg in the world costs a whopping Rs 78 crores. The name of this egg is Rothschild Faberge Easter Egg and it is worth Rs 78 crores.
Petersburg: Russian Imperial Style' at the Mississippi Arts Pavilion. Today, there are 10 eggs at the Kremlin Armory, nine at the Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg, five at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and three each at the Royal Collection in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
No new collections of eggs have ever been created by the Faberge family since the revolution of 1917, which saw the royal family overthrown and the creation of the Soviet Union. It's 2011, and the Soviet Union has ceased to exist.
According to author Géza von Habsburg, "They were by no means the most expensive things that the imperial family bought from Fabergé. The first eggs cost something like two to four thousand dollars, approximately, at the time.
Fabergé, whose father Gustav founded the eponymous firm, completed a total of 50 eggs for the royal family, 43 of which are accounted for today.
The Constellation egg is one of two Easter eggs designed under the supervision of Peter Carl Fabergé in 1917, for the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II as an Easter gift to his wife, the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. It was the last Imperial Fabergé egg designed.
The series began in 1885 when Emperor Alexander III, through the intermediary of his uncle, Grand Duke Vladimir, commissioned an Easter egg from Fabergé as an Easter present for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna.
Two authentic Faberge eggs as well as a painting by the well known Russian artist Ivan Aivazovksy have been stolen from a successful collector's home in St. Petersburg.
Yes, Fabergé eggs are fragile. They may break if dropped or handled too roughly. Because they are so delicate, several of the original Imperial eggs are no longer in existence. Fabergé produced 69, but only 57 remain.