November 27, 2025 / 4:47 PM EST / AP
A rare crystal and diamond Fabergé egg crafted for Russia’s ruling family before the 1917 revolution is headed to auction, valued at more than $26 million. Christie’s says the Winter Egg is one of seven imperial eggs still in private hands and will be offered at its London headquarters on Dec. 2.
The 4-inch-tall egg is carved from rock crystal and decorated with a snowflake motif in platinum set with about 4,500 tiny diamonds. It opens to reveal a removable basket of bejewelled quartz flowers symbolizing spring.
Margo Oganesian, head of Christie’s Russian art department, likened the Winter Egg to a luxurious Kinder Surprise and called it “the ‘Mona Lisa’ for decorative arts.” It was one of just two eggs designed by Alma Pihl, a female designer at Fabergé; the other is owned by Britain’s royal family. The Winter Egg was commissioned by Czar Nicholas II in 1913 as an Easter gift for his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
Peter Carl Fabergé and his firm made more than 50 imperial eggs between 1885 and 1917, each uniquely crafted with a hidden surprise. The Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for about 300 years, was overthrown in 1917 and Nicholas II and his family were executed in 1918.
After the revolution, a London dealer bought the Winter Egg for 450 pounds when Soviet authorities sold off artworks in the 1920s. It was believed lost for two decades until Christie’s sold it in 1994 for more than 7 million Swiss francs (about $5.6 million then). It fetched $9.6 million in 2002. The Winter Egg is now expected to surpass the $18.5 million record paid at a 2007 Christie’s sale for a Fabergé egg made for the Rothschilds.
There are 43 surviving imperial Fabergé eggs, most of which are held in museums.
