House of Fabergé

Fabergé is remembered for objects more than for rings and necklaces, and that is exactly why it belongs here. Gustav Fabergé founded the firm in Saint Petersburg in 1842, and his son Carl, who took it over, made it the supplier of the most famous luxury objects of imperial Russia. The first imperial Easter egg was made in 1885, when Tsar Alexander III ordered a gift for his wife, and around fifty followed for the Romanovs, though accounts of the exact total differ. The house style is miniature engineering wrapped in enamel, gold and gemstones, with a surprise hidden inside. The Bolsheviks nationalized the original firm in 1918, and today's Fabergé is a later revival of the name, so original pieces are museum and auction territory.