Faberge unveils The Pearl Egg

March 16, 2015: Fabergé, the iconic artist jeweller, has revived its tradition of creating precious and coveted objets d’art. Paying homage to the forthcoming centenary of the last Fabergé Imperial Eggs ever delivered, Fabergé has crafted an extraordinary, one-of-kind egg objet in collaboration with the Al-Fardan family, one of the world’s most renowned collectors of pearls.

 

The Fabergé Pearl Egg is the first egg created in the ‘Imperial Class’ since 1917 where the Fabergé name and the Fabergé family have been united. The Fabergé Pearl Egg draws inspiration from the formation of a pearl within an oyster, and the egg’s painstakingly-crafted mother-of-pearl exterior opens to reveal a unique grey pearl of 12.17 carats, sourced from the Arabian Gulf and exhibiting exceptional purity and a highly unusual shade of grey.

 

Harnessing 20 highly skilled workmasters, the objet embodies 139 fine, white pearls with a golden lustre, 3,305 diamonds, carved rock crystal and mother-of-pearl set on white and yellow gold. Each pearl in the Fabergé Pearl Egg was hand-selected by Hussain Ibrahim Al-Fardan from his private collection. An ingenious mechanism enables the entire outer shell to rotate on its base, simultaneously opening in six sections to unveil its treasure. 

 

The Pearl Egg is accompanied by a Fabergé necklace of white pearls, diamonds and mother of pearl featuring a scallop motif, and finished with an exquisite 19.44 carat white pearl drop.

 

Hussain Ibrahim Al-Fardan, Chairman of the Alfardan Group, said, “I have a passion for natural pearls and it took me many years to build my current collection gathering some of the most extraordinary pearls in the world. Fabergé has a great history in making jewellery for royalty and a truly precious Fabergé Egg is a luxury treasure and the symbol of a long-gone era of opulence. This is why I partnered with Fabergé to combine these two traditional treasures: the Fabergé Egg and natural Arabian Gulf pearls, to create an exceptional piece.”

 

The Al-Fardan family of Qatar is one of the oldest and most successful traditional pearl merchants in the Gulf. Born in 1933, Hussain Ibrahim Al-Fardan, perpetuated the family legacy, and opened Alfardan Jewellery in Doha in 1954, now the exclusive retailer for Fabergé in Qatar. In addition, he established one of the largest and most exceptional natural pearl collections in the world, part of which is housed as a permanent exhibition in Doha and has been displayed in international museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

 

The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs, commissioned by the Russian Imperial Family, are almost universally recognised as the greatest masterpieces of the jeweller's art. Peter Carl Fabergé worked with highly skilled workmasters and craftsmen, seeking out precious gemstones with charisma and achieving perfection in every detail from enamelling to gem-setting. The most expensive piece made by Peter Carl Fabergé was a pearl sautoir, gifted by Tsar Alexander III and Empress Maria Fedorovna to Princess Alix of Hesse on her engagement to Tsar Nicholas. Made of natural pearls, it cost 250,000 roubles at the time, or more than US$30 million today.

 

The Fabergé Pearl Egg was unveiled at the Doha Watch and Jewellery Exhibition.