Third Imperial (Fabergé egg)

The Third Imperial egg is an Easter Fabergé egg created in the workshop of Peter Carl Fabergé for the Russian tsar Alexander III and presented to his wife, Maria Feodorovna, on Orthodox Easter of 1887. The egg was created in Louis XVI style and it consists of a solid 18K gold reeded case resting on a gold "annulus" (ring) with waveform decorations held up by three sets of corbel-like legs which end in lion's paws. Joining these legs are festoons of roses and leaves made in a variety of coloured gold alloys and joined in the middle of each side by matching oval cabochon sapphires. Above each sapphire is a gold bow decorated with a series of tiny diamonds, and the front of the egg has a single much-larger diamond in an old-mine diamond clasp which when pressed releases the egg's lid to reveal its surprise. The egg was lost for many years, but was rediscovered in 2012. The rediscovery of this egg was announced publicly and covered in many news stories in 2014. The anonymous owner from the American Midwest had purchased the egg for US$14,000, hoping to profit by selling the egg's materials for their scrap value at a small profit, but held on to it after learning the scrap value would make him no profit. Years later he read of the missing Fabergé egg, contacted Fabergé experts, and the egg was authenticated and subsequently valued at an estimated US$33 million.

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