Faberge egg turns up in scrap dealer's kitchen

The Third Imperial Easter Egg, designed by Karl Faberge and given by Tsar Alexander III to the Tsarina in 1887.

London: A scrap metal dealer who bought an ornament from a bric-a-brac market to be melted down for its gold has discovered it is a £20 million Faberge egg.

The dealer - who wants to remain anonymous - struggled to sell the egg, and so kept it in his kitchen for several years until he searched online for "egg" and "Vacheron Constantin", a name etched on the timepiece inside.

The result was an article from London's Daily Telegraph with the headline: "Is this  £20 million nest-egg on your mantelpiece?"

The article reported the search for a Faberge missing for 90 years which contained a timepiece by the Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin. The dealer contacted the Faberge expert named in the piece, Kieran McCarthy of the Mayfair jeweller Wartski, who flew to the US to verify the discovery. Mr McCarthy likened the moment he saw the egg to "Indiana Jones being presented with the Lost Ark". He said: "It was a very modest home in the Midwest, next to a highway and a Dunkin' Donuts. There was the egg, next to some cupcakes on the kitchen counter.


Carl Faberge designed the Third Imperial Easter Egg for the Russian royal family, and it was given by Alexander III to the Tsarina in 1887. It was seized by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution and sold in the 1920s as part of their "Treasures for Tractors" policy.

The egg ended up in the US, but its provenance was lost, and it was bought by the dealer a decade ago for £8000 based on its weight and the estimated value of the diamonds and sapphires in the decoration. He intended to turn a quick profit, but prospective buyers thought he had overestimated the price, until he conducted his own research in 2012.

Wartski bought the egg on behalf of a Faberge collector in January. It will go on display at the jewellers' London headquarters from April 14 to 17.

Telegraph, London