Eggcetera

The Fabergé egg has stood at the pinnacle of opulence since 1885, when Czar Alexander III of Russia commissioned jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé to create an Easter gift for his wife, Empress Maria Fedorovna. The embellished white enamel ovum was so impressive that Fabergé was soon appointed the royal goldsmith, and he continued to craft imperial eggs—50 in total—until 1917, when the Russian Revolution brought an end to the Romanov dynasty and the House of Fabergé. Nearly a century later, the prestigious jewelry brand is back, with a sleek ad campaign shot by Mario Testino and styled by Carine Roitfeld, plans for boutiques in New York and London, and two exquisite new egg collections. Les Fameux de Fabergé comprises 12 masterfully crafted and immensely complex pendants that are priced from $100,000 to $600,000. Les Frissons de Fabergé, the more youthful sister line, starts at $5,000 and was born of necessity, according to the brand’s creative director, Katharina Flohr: “A girl’s got to have a Fabergé egg.”