A rare Fabergé Imperial egg, the Winter Egg, sold for £22.8 million ($30.2 million) at Christie’s London on December 2, 2025, setting a new world auction record for any Fabergé work. The egg was a 1913 Easter gift from Tsar Nicholas II to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, and was designed by Alma Pihl, one of the few women working in Fabergé’s St. Petersburg workshops. It had previously sold at Christie’s in 1994 and 2002, each time setting records.
The sale underscores the enduring allure of Romanov-era luxury objects and the strength of the high-end art market, even as geopolitical tensions around Russian art and wealth persist. The Winter Egg’s record price also highlights the growing recognition of female artisans like Alma Pihl, whose designs were long overshadowed by the House of Fabergé’s male masters. The result reaffirms Christie’s dominance in the market for imperial Russian treasures.