10 Glittering Facts

Faberge is one of the most iconic brands ever to come out of Russia and most known for its famous egg-shaped treasures. Created in the greatest of secrecy, each Faberge egg was lovingly crafted for up to a year to ensure the perfect placement of every gem, precious metal, and secret within. No other goldsmith or jeweler could match the lavish and detailed designs. Over a century later, Faberge eggs remain the benchmark for quality and wealth in the jewelry industry.

10 A Royal Easter Tradition

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Back when Easter was the most important event for the Russian Orthodox Church, people would take hand-painted eggs to church, have them blessed, and then hand them out to loved ones. Add that to the upper-class tradition of exchanging bejeweled gifts on Easter, and one can understand how the idea for the Faberge eggs came about.

It began in 1885 when Tsar Alexander III wanted to surprise his wife, Empress Marie Fedorovna, with something special that year. On Easter, he presented her with the deceptively simple-looking egg that started it all, the Hen Egg. He was so pleased by her thrilled reaction that he subsequently presented Marie with another egg every year thereafter. Their son, Tsar Nicholas II, continued with the tradition, giving a precious egg to both his mother and his own wife every Easter. It became the most lavish and exquisite Easter tradition anyone had ever seen. But after only 32 years, the glittering gifts stopped abruptly with the murder of Nicholas II and his entire family during the Russian Revolution.

9 The Surprises Inside

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Master jeweler Peter Carl Faberge was given complete artistic freedom and could design the eggs around any theme he wanted. But he had to abide by one rule: Every egg had to contain a surprise. Faberge didn’t disappoint his imperial patrons. Within each ornate shell, he hid a tiny marvel. The Hen Egg cracked open to reveal a golden yolk. Inside the yolk nestled a pure gold hen, giving the Hen Egg its name. Within the hen was a tiny diamond replica of the royal crown and a miniature ruby egg pendant.

Just a few of the other surprises include a mechanical swan, an elephant, a golden miniature of the palace, 11 tiny portraits on an easel, and an exact working replica of the Coronation carriage that took nearly 15 months to create. Despite his enormous freedom with the designs of the eggs, Faberge always made them a tribute to something in the royals’ lives. The Red Cross Egg, for example, was created in 1915 to honor the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna for her efforts in the Red Cross charity during World War I.

8 They Were Once Despised

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While the royals couldn’t get enough of the precious, oblong treasures, the Bolsheviks viewed them with hatred. They became a symbol of the wasteful elite during times when disastrous harvests and hunger made life for the common people miserable. But the disgruntled Bolsheviks didn’t just stew over it; they went after Faberge with ill intent, and the master craftsman had to flee the country. Faberge’s son Agathon was kidnapped and imprisoned in the Kremlin, where he was forced to work for the revolutionaries by evaluating the valuables that previously belonged to the Romanovs. Agathon eventually escaped and settled down in Finland.

Faberge’s wife fled separately with another son. They found safety in Switzerland, where they were reunited with Faberge. But his business in Russia was nationalized and eventually closed down in 1917. By that time, Faberge luckily already had branches open in other countries that the Bolsheviks’ influence couldn’t reach, notably in England.

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