The Winter Egg, a diamond-studded crystal Fabergé egg that once belonged to the mother of the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II, has sold for a record $30.2 million at a Christie’s auction in London, compared to the previous record of $11.8 million for another Fabergé egg sold at an auction in 2007, the BBC reported.
Carved from rock crystal and decorated with 4,500 diamonds and platinum snowflakes, the egg is one of the most beautiful works by the Russian jeweler Carl Fabergé, according to some expert estimates.
The Fabergé house made only 50 eggs for Russia’s imperial Romanov family, and the Imperial Winter Egg is one of just seven left in private hands, as the others are either missing or owned by institutions or museums.
Meanwhile, in New Zealand, a 32-year-old man was arrested on a theft charge. According to Auckland police, he entered a local jewelry store and swallowed a $19,000 Fabergé egg locket.
The suspect has undergone a medical assessment and remains in custody, while the locket has not yet been recovered, police said.
The allegedly stolen Fabergé egg locket is set with 60 white diamonds and 15 blue sapphires, according to the jeweler’s website, and opens to reveal an 18-carat gold miniature octopus.
Another piece of art made in Russia, sold for a record high sum earlier this week, was the painting «The Survivors» by Ivan Aivazovsky. The work was sold for $5.5 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by the artist.
