A rare Fabergé masterpiece created for Russia’s last czar is heading to auction next week, and it could smash every sales record the brand has ever set. Christie’s will offer the “Winter Egg,” a crystal and diamond Imperial Easter egg designed in 1913 for Czar Nicholas II to give to his mother.
It’s one of only seven imperial eggs still held privately, and experts say it could fetch more than £20 million ($26 million).
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What makes it so valuable
The egg stands just over four inches tall, but it’s packed with detail. It is carved from rock crystal, decorated with platinum snowflake patterns, and set with 4,508 tiny diamonds. Inside is a removable bouquet of quartz flowers that represents the arrival of spring.
Only two imperial eggs were ever designed by Alma Pihl, one of the few women in Fabergé’s workshop. Christie’s specialists say the Winter Egg is her masterpiece and “arguably the best of them all.”
A history shaped by revolution
The egg was created four years before the Russian Revolution and later sold off by the Soviet government as they unloaded royal treasures.
It vanished from public view for decades, then resurfaced at auction in 1994, selling for $5.6 million. It broke records again when it sold in 2002 for $9.6 million.
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Christie’s expects another historic result when it returns to the block on Dec. 2.
This could be the last time a Fabergé imperial egg appears at auction for years. Of the 43 surviving imperial eggs, most are locked in museums or private collections, unlikely to sell.
