Forever Faberge

Contemporary array of Fabergé miniature jeweled egg charms Courtesy: Fabergé Jewels

Few designers are more universally recognized than Fabergé. And while the name isinextricably linked to the Russian Imperial family, Fabergé also has contemporary devoteestoday. Peter Carl Fabergé’s father groomed him for the family’s jewelry firm founded in St.Petersburg, Russia in 1842.

Keen to give his talented son the training and exposure needed to become a prominent jeweler,his father sent him out to discover the rest of Europe. So Fabergé apprenticed in Paris, Frankfurtand London before returning home to run the House of Fabergé in 1870. Fabergé created the first of his famous Imperial Easter Eggs in 1885 as an Easter gift from Tsar Alexander III to his wife. Thus a tradition was born which made the Fabergé name a legend.

Fanciful ones, like the Coronation Egg could take up to a year and a half to produce. The last Imperial Egg was done in 1916. Fabergé designed some 50 Imperial Eggs before the collapse of the Russian government in 1917 and the execution of the Tsar and his family in 1918. Following the coup, the House of Fabergé was nationalized and ransacked by the Bolsheviks.

Fab Fan Base

One might think that when Fabergé died, so would the genius of his creativity. But the adoration that Fabergé rallied during his lifetime sustains a momentum even now. Today the name Fabergé evokes a sense of perfectionism manifested in bejeweled objects. So it has re-emerged as a vibrant luxury brand launched in 2007. But still there’s a sense of rarity with the modern Fabergé treasures like bejeweled egg charm-pendants.

Treat yourself to the eye candy of Fabergé and experience these richly jeweled miniature works of art at Thalheimers on the Trail here in Naples. I’m feeling a bit royal just thinking about it!