While the House of Fabergé is best known for creating the lavishly ornate and intricately devised Imperial Easter eggs given by the last czars to their families as annual holiday gifts, it was the most prestigious Russian luxury goods maker of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Serving the aristocracy and the well-to-do through stores in St. Petersburg, Moscow and as far afield as London, Fabergé crafted a wide range of brooches and other jewelry, clock cases, silver and myriad objets de vertu that included picture frames, cigarette cases, cufflinks and carved hardstone floral and animal figurines. Following the revolution, the firm was closed by the Soviet state in 1918.
Master goldsmith Gustav Fabergé, a descendant of Huguenot emigrées, founded the company in St. Petersburg in 1842. The firm did a brisk trade among the lesser nobility and the merchant class, but it flourished under the guidance of Gustav’s eldest son Peter Carl Fabergé — known also as Karl Gustavovich Fabergé — who took over in 1872.
Cosmopolitan, widely-traveled and himself a master goldsmith — he was sent on a Grand Tour in the 1860s — the younger Fabergé drew early design inspiration when he volunteered to catalogue and restore pieces in the imperial jewelry collection in the Hermitage.
Fabergé pieces based on historical jewelry from the Hermitage caught the attention of Czar Alexander III at a Moscow exhibition in 1882, and three years later he commissioned the first Imperial Easter egg as a gift for the czarina. Czar Nicholas II continued the tradition, presenting two eggs each Easter — one for his wife and one for his mother.
Relatively simple in design compared to the complex cloisonné-adorned eggs that followed, the first Fabergé egg was a white-enameled ovoid containing a gold “yolk” that held a gold hen, which in turn contained a replica of the imperial crown from which hung an egg-shaped ruby pendant.
As the appointed goldsmith to the royal court, the House of Fabergé became the darling of Russian aristocrats as well as wealthy patrons across Europe. Many and varied objets — hundreds of thousands by one count — were made to meet their demand. The firm employed some 500 craftsmen and designers when it was shuttered.
After the Russian Revolution, the Fabergé name and trademark endured a checkered passage through the 20th century.
Family members left their homeland in 1918 and set up a new business in Paris that was mainly concerned with repairing and restoring earlier-made wares. The name was adopted by an American fragrance and beauty products maker in the late 1930s, and later authorized by the family in a 1951 agreement. The trademark has been subsequently sold several times, and attached to numerous products including jewelry.
Fabergé pieces are richly redolent of a romantic past, and a source of thorough delight — for connoisseurs, true Fabergé refers to items made in the firm’s brief, golden decades from 1885 to 1917.
Collectors are advised to make a study of Fabergé works in museum collections such as the Victoria & Albert and the Royal Collection in London to gain an understanding of the quality of genuine goods made by the original firm, and then to purchase only from reputable and reliable dealers, such those at 1stDibs.
Find Fabergé eggs for sale and other objects and vintage jewelry on 1stDibs.
Fabergé White Enamel Egg Shaped Miniature Frame
By Fabergé
Located in London, GB
A Fabergé white enamel egg shaped miniature frame, the translucent enamel on an engine turned radiating guilloché ground, with a picture aperture surr...
Enamel
$77,620
H 2.96 in Dm 1.78 in
Fabergé 18 Kt Gold Egg Red Enamel with Gold Stand, Emeralds, Sapphires, Diamonds
By Fabergé
Located in BARI, IT
Rare Fabergé gold egg with its gold stand. It is decorated with red guilloche enamel and precious stones: emeralds (0.40 carats), sapphires (3.15 carats), d...
Diamond, Sapphire, Emerald, Gold, Enamel
$31,020
H 2.68 in Dm 1.82 in
Fabergé Egg Object, 18k Yellow Gold, Red Enamel with Fleur-de-Lys-Paillon
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Egg Object of Art, 18k Yellow Gold, Red Guilloché Enamel with Fleur-de-Lys Paillons This Fabergé egg, created around 1995 by the workmaster Victor Mayer, is a refined exampl...
18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Gold, Enamel
$181,947
H 5.71 in W 2.49 in Dm 3.47 in L 3.43 in
Fabergé Meissen Egg, Gold, Enamel, Diamonds, Gemstones, Porcelain, Music Box
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
This Fabergé egg commemorates Carl-Peter Fabergé’s sojourn in Dresden in 1860/61 and the artistic influences he absorbed at the Green Vault. The foot is crafted of hand-painted porcelain by the State Meissen Porcelain Manufactory, designed expressly for this piece. The upper half of the egg in gold and enamel contains a miniature garden with a diamond-set well house and trees of nephrite and pearls. A dedicated Swiss music box movement by Reuge plays a minuet by Luigi Boccherini, while the well house and trees move in contrapuntal motion. The transformation of the music box movement into the motion of the well is achieved by a special mechanism with an additional spring, developed by the Swiss master watchmaker Paul Gerber...
Diamond, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel, Gold
$43,681
H 3.75 in Dm 1.54 in
Fabergé Lizard-Egg, 18k Gold, Blue Guilloché Enamel, Diamonds, Emeralds, Lapis
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Lizard-Egg Object, 18k Yellow Gold, Opalescent Light Blue Guilloché Vitreous Enamel, Emeralds, Diamonds, Lapis Lazuli The Lizard Egg, created in 2002, is a celebration of th...
Diamond, Emerald, 18k Gold, White Gold, Enamel, Yellow Gold
$75,888
H 0.44 in Dm 1.82 in
Fabergé Siam-Egg Objet, 18k Gold, Yellow Enamel, Diamonds, Agate, Malachite
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Siam Egg, 18k Yellow Gold, Translucent Yellow Guilloché Vitreous Enamel, Diamonds 0.735 ct, Agate, Garnet, Malachite The Siam Egg, created in 1998, recalls Fabergé’s histori...
Agate, Diamond, Malachite, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
Fabergé Spring Egg, 18k Yellow Gold, Pink Guilloche Enamel, Diamonds, Bowenite
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Spring Egg, 18k Yellow Gold, Translucent Pink Guilloché Vitreous Enamel, 79 Diamonds 1.06 ct G VS, Bowenite, Rose Quartz, Citrine, Rock Crystal, Amethyst, Topaz The Spring Egg, created in 1996, is the first in the Fabergé “Four Seasons” series inspired by Antonio Vivaldi’s celebrated violin concertos. It represents the awakening of spring through a delicate fusion of colour, movement, and music. The egg’s exterior is crafted from 18k yellow gold, covered with translucent pink enamel on a guilloché ground. Its surface is richly decorated with applied golden garlands, bows, and floral motifs, accented by 79 brilliant-cut diamonds totalling 1.06 ct (G VS). The vibrant pink hue, enhanced by guilloché engraving, symbolises freshness and renewal. When opened, the egg reveals its surprise: a golden vase containing a vivid bouquet of flowers carved from semiprecious stones — citrine, rock crystal, amethyst, and topaz. Each blossom is highlighted by a sparkling diamond “dewdrop”, while the leaves are crafted in green-enamelled gold. The bouquet slowly revolves to the melody of Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons, played by a dedicated Swiss music movement by Reuge. The mechanism was further modified and refined by Swiss master watchmaker Paul Gerber...
Diamond, Amethyst, Citrine, Rock Crystal, Topaz, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, ...
$48,654
H 3.55 in Dm 1.58 in
Fabergé Honey Bear-Egg, 18k Gold, Gold Enamel, Diamonds, Smoky Quartz, Citrines
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Honey Bear Egg, 18k Yellow Gold, Clear Flux Enamel, Smoky Quartz, Citrines, Diamonds The Honey Bear Egg, created in 2002, is one of the most playful designs of the modern Fa...
Diamond, Emerald, Citrine, Quartz, 18k Gold, White Gold, Yellow Gold, En...
$45,177
H 3.55 in Dm 2.01 in
Fabergé Serpent-Egg Objet, 18k Yellow Gold, Pink Enamel, 36 Diamonds, 2 Emeralds
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Serpent-Egg Object, 18k Yellow Gold, Translucent Pink Guilloché Vitreous Enamel, Diamonds 0.36 ct, Emeralds This Fabergé egg, created in 1991, is a tribute to Fabergé’s hist...
Diamond, Emerald, Gold, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel, White Gold
$19,248
H 2.76 in Dm 1.58 in
Fabergé Egg Object 18 K Yellow Gold Blue Guilloche Enamel Paillons Ruby Cabochon
By Fabergé
Located in Pforzheim, DE
Fabergé Egg Object of Art, 18k Yellow Gold, Blue Guilloché Enamel with Paillons, Ruby Cabochon 0.75 ct This Fabergé egg, created around 1995 by the workmaster Victor Mayer, is a mas...
Diamond, Ruby, 18k Gold, Yellow Gold, Enamel
Emblems of heartfelt emotion, elegant vessels for photos and keepsakes and perfect for layering, these special ornaments are an essential component of any thoughtfully curated jewelry collection.
From vibrant to subtle, elegant to cheeky, enamel jewelry encompasses a wide range of colors and styles, and there are almost as many techniques for creating these distinctive pieces.
