He found a Fabergé egg worth 23 million euros in a market: the story of the millionaire find

He found a Fabergé egg worth 23 million euros in a market: the story of the millionaire find

November 24, 2024 – 18:00

The story of a scrap metal dealer who became a millionaire after accidentally finding a Russian treasure lost hundreds of years ago.

In the history of humanity, hundreds of treasures valued in millions of dollars They circulated through museums and exhibitions to highlight their beauty and artistic and cultural value. Although the vast majority were donated by the company or by their original owners to make them public, some of these pieces ended up in the hands of people who did not expect to find such relics.

This is the story of one of the icons of Russian jewelry and ornamentation Inspired by the Catholic religion and one of its most characteristic festivities, it is still a model of modern decorations used today. The Faberge eggsgifts for each Easter for the Tsars of Russia and their relatives, they separated over time and, by chance of life, They ended up in a town in the United States.

hevos from faberge.webp

What is the Fabergé egg about?

A Fabergé egg is one of fifty-two Easter eggs created by Carl Faberge and its artisans from the Casa Fabergé firm for the tsars of Russia, as well as for some members of the nobility and the industrial and financial bourgeoisie, between the years 1885 and 1917. They were created as Easter gifts for the Russian imperial family.

The first egg, known as the “Chicken Egg“, was commissioned by Tsar Alexander III in 1885 for his wife, Empress Maria Fyodorovna. This egg contained a surprise within a surprise: a small golden goose that, when opened, revealed a replica of the imperial crown. Every year, Fabergé created a new egg with a unique design and a hidden surprise.

Of all the ornaments made, Russian royalty keeps 46. The other eight are considered lost or missing. However, over time, conjectures and inquiries were made about the whereabouts of the remaining ones through manuscripts and paintings of the time. Recently, one of them changed the life of an ordinary person.

How the Fabergé egg reappeared

One of the lost eggs had a very particular fate, and ended up in the hands of a scrap dealer that he bought it at a second-hand market in a town in the Midwest of the United States. He got it for the equivalent of about 8,000 pounds, or $13,300, with the intention of making good money by smelting the metal.

However, no one bought the piece from him and the scrap dealer did not want to sell it for less than what he had paid, so he left it in his house for years. Desperate to get money for that piece, one day in 2012 Googled “egg” and “Vacheron Constantin”the name of the watch inside, and an article appeared in the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph where journalist Kieran McCarthy talked about the value of these pieces of jewelry.

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What happened to the millionaire piece

Realizing the immense value of the ornament he had purchased, He immediately called McCarthy and he was contacted to confirm that he had one of the Fabergé Eggs in his hands. Upon verifying its authenticity, the journalist and historian bought the piece for 20 million dollars and contacted specialists in London to make a decision about his destination.

Finally, it was decided to expose it in the Wartski House Museumspecialists in the legacy of the famous jeweler. The man who discovered the egg decided to remain anonymous for his safety.

Source: Ambito

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