Fabergé Eggs Are Ridiculous (And Fascinating)

Summary

Ridiculous History: Fabergé Eggs Are Ridiculous (And Fascinating)
Released August 12, 2025 by iHeartPodcasts

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Introduction

In this captivating episode of Ridiculous History, hosts Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown delve into the opulent and intricate world of Fabergé Eggs—luxurious masterpieces that epitomize both extravagance and exquisite craftsmanship. Exploring the origins, cultural significance, and enduring legacy of these jeweled eggs, the duo uncovers the fascinating story behind one of history’s most extravagant symbols of wealth and artistry.

The Origins of Fabergé Eggs

The journey begins with Carl Fabergé, the visionary artist whose name became synonymous with unparalleled luxury. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in May 1846, Carl Fabergé inherited his father’s successful jewelry business, setting the stage for his future innovations. As Noel Brown aptly puts it, “Once you reach a certain level of wealth and you kind of have all your basic needs met…” [02:48], Fabergé sought to create something uniquely extravagant that would captivate the elite.

Carl Fabergé’s Vision and Craftsmanship

Carl Fabergé's approach was not merely about using precious materials but about embodying artistry and creativity. "Expensive things interest me little if the value is merely in so many diamonds or pearls," Fabergé remarked, emphasizing his focus on the aesthetic and conceptual value over mere material worth [14:11]. This philosophy set Fabergé apart from contemporaries who prioritized sheer opulence over intricate design.

The Imperial Eggs: A Symbol of Royal Patronage

The episode highlights the pivotal moment in 1885 when Tsar Alexander III commissioned the first Imperial Fabergé Egg as a special Easter gift for his wife, Empress Maria Fyodorovna. This “world’s fanciest spin on an Easter egg” [25:40] marked the beginning of a cherished tradition. Each subsequent egg became more elaborate, featuring hidden surprises and intricate mechanisms, symbolizing the deep bond between the royal family and Fabergé’s craftsmanship.

Legacy and the Impact of Political Turmoil

As the Fabergé workshop flourished, creating around 50 Imperial Eggs from 1885 to 1917, the Russian Revolution brought an abrupt end to this golden era. The hosts discuss how the political upheaval not only ended the commissions but also led to the nationalization of Fabergé’s assets. “In the wake of this chaos, the Fabergé workshop in St. Petersburg… is nationalized under the red flag of communism” [43:48], effectively halting the production of these magnificent eggs.

Notable Fabergé Eggs and Their Valuation

Ben and Noel delve into specific examples of Imperial Eggs, describing their intricate designs and staggering valuations. For instance, the “Third Imperial Easter Egg” from 1887 is described as a golden clockpiece adorned with lion’s feet and encrusted with diamonds and rubies, valued at approximately $33 million [39:27]. These descriptions highlight the unparalleled craftsmanship and the eggs’ status as priceless art pieces.

Modern-Day Fabergé and the Mystery of Missing Eggs

The episode also touches on the modern legacy of Fabergé Eggs. Despite the original workshop’s closure, the Fabergé brand continues to produce luxury items, though not all achieve the same legendary status. Additionally, the mystery surrounding the missing and lost eggs adds an element of intrigue. “Someone listening to this episode may indeed possess one of these missing eggs” [47:38], suggests Ben, emphasizing the enduring allure and enigmatic nature of these artifacts.

Conclusion

Ridiculous History provides a thorough and engaging exploration of Fabergé Eggs, blending historical facts with lively commentary. The episode not only celebrates the artistic brilliance of Carl Fabergé but also underscores the socio-political context that shaped the creation and eventual decline of these luxurious masterpieces. By weaving in notable quotes and detailed storytelling, Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown offer listeners a comprehensive understanding of why Fabergé Eggs remain a symbol of both ridiculous extravagance and fascinating history.

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Notable Quotes:

• Noel Brown on wealth and extravagance: “[…] once you reach a certain level of wealth and you kind of have all your basic needs met, shelter, food, companionship, all of that” [02:48].

• Carl Fabergé’s design philosophy: “Expensive things interest me little if the value is merely in so many diamonds or pearls” [14:11].

• Ben Bowlin on royal patronage: “As we know, royal attention can be extremely good or extremely bad and there's little in between” [18:51].

• Description of the Third Imperial Easter Egg: “The jeweled and rigid yellow gold egg rests on its original tripod pedestal…” [39:26].

• Mystery of missing eggs: “Someone listening to this episode may indeed possess one of these missing eggs” [47:38].

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For more intriguing explorations of history’s most extravagant and odd stories, tune into Ridiculous History on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or your favorite podcast platform.

Transcript

[Ben Bowlin]

Ridiculous History is a production of iHeartRadio. Welcome back to the show, fellow ridiculous historians. Thank you as always, so much for tuning. Tuning in. Let's hear it for one of the fanciest boys in podcasting, our super producer, Mr. Max Williams.

[Noel Brown]

I feel like I should go put a jacket on. And also I. Max. Yeah, you do. Max.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, bleeping all that.

[Noel Brown]

I don't know, Ben. I kind of. My feelings are a little hurt. I'm not gonna lie, because I am the one podcasting, holding a tiny, purebred, hypoallergenic dog named Apollo. So I'm feeling pretty fancy today too.

[Ben Bowlin]

Apollo, absolute legend. One of our favorite audience members, as well as you. Specifically you. If you are listening to this, that's none other than Mr. Noel Brown. I am several people, but they called me Ben here.

[Noel Brown]

Contain multitudes. There's no question about that.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, thanks, man.

[Noel Brown]

And that you're. You're. You know, you have multiple personality disorder.

[Ben Bowlin]

Duh.

[Noel Brown]

Undiagnosed. I'm diagnosing. No, it's not true.

[Ben Bowlin]

It's not true.

[Noel Brown]

It's not true at all. You have. You lead many lives and wear many hats. Sir.

[Ben Bowlin]

Sir. Immediate response without being defensive is why call it a disorder?

[Noel Brown]

Exactly. Why be inherently negative about it from the start? You know, it's just. How about list A syndrome?

[Ben Bowlin]

Okay, all right.

[Noel Brown]

Syndrome sounds a little inherently negative too, I'm not gonna lie.

[Ben Bowlin]

So how about this? How about instead we pull up one of the old Personas for VO which would go something like. Previously on Ridiculous History.

[Noel Brown]

Is that Max Powers, astronaut with a secret.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, my gosh, you remembered. Thank you so much, man. All right, so this episode is a spiritual successor to a series you and I did that we quite enjoy with our pals Jack and Miles on ridiculous historical flexes. We were hanging out with our friends out west and we said, hey, hey. One ridiculous thing about history is people find the weirdest ways to try to be important or try to show off.

[Noel Brown]

It's true. I think it's a product of, like, once you reach a certain level of wealth and you kind of have all your basic needs met, shelter, food, companionship, all of that.

[Ben Bowlin]

The Maslov stuff. Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

You kind of run out of stuff to throw your money into, and then you start to get into the really niche territory of what's the smallest thing that I could spend a lot of money on to show off the fact that I am unconcerned with money.

[Ben Bowlin]

Right. I don't want to buy a multi million dollar yacht like all those common rich folk.

[Noel Brown]

I got all my money in eggs.

[Ben Bowlin]

I got all my money in eggs. Excellent setup. This is an iHeart podcast.

[Max Williams]

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[Ben Bowlin]

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[Noel Brown]

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[Ben Bowlin]

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[Noel Brown]

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[Ben Bowlin]

Later, after we were hanging with the boys from Daily Zeitgeist, please tune into their show. We realized that Noel, you, Max and I had not addressed one of the strangest, most niche flexes in all of Western history. And you nailed it perfectly. It's an idea that seems ludicrous on the surface, but it came to define an era of Russian monarchy. It launched loads of mysteries. It led to the creation of one of the world's most bizarre flexes ever. The Faberge egg for sure.

[Noel Brown]

And I do just want to say, per my last comment, about what is the smallest thing that I could dump a bunch of money into. There is also, of course, the aspect of craftsmanship and the appreciation of fine things of fine art. So I do not entirely believe that interest in fine things or artifacts is inherently some sort of look at me ism. Right? Like. But that being said, the idea of the Faberge egg is more or less, or the concept of it, the term has become a stand in for just like really, really, really expensive small stuff.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Noel Brown]

What am I made of? Faberge eggs?

[Ben Bowlin]

You know, remember that episode of the Simpsons with Bleeding Gums Murphy eggs?

[Noel Brown]

That's a touching episode. Well, I guess I'm thinking of the original Bleeding Gums Murphy episode. No, that must be the same one. I don't remember the Faberge eggs detail though.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, here, let's play a clip, please. Let's see if we can get away with it.

[Noel Brown]

And I spent all my money on my fifteen hundred dollar a day habit. I'd like another egg, please. I tell you, when I've had enough. Yeah, I mean, Koki, let's say first of all, though, Ben, that's great. And obviously the joke there would be that a jazz musician, the mind immediately goes to like having a $15 a day drugs habit. But 1500 bucks for a Faberge egg, I mean, that's some serious inflation. That episode came out in like the early 90s, so I think the prices have gone up quite a bit since then, my friend. I found a video that I checked out in advance of this about the, I think 10 individually most expensive and valuable Faberge eggs, which we're going to get into later. But what the hell is a Faberge egg, right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Okay, spoiler for everybody. Hungry as we always are. You cannot eat these eggs. You can't possibly. You could wear them like jewelry, but it would be inconvenient. They don't really do anything. So how did they become a thing in the first place?

[Noel Brown]

More of A display piece.

[Ben Bowlin]

Right, right. Object to art, object of fancy. So to understand this, we have to start with the man himself. To Peter, Carl Faberge. Karl to his buckaroos and to his buddies.

[Noel Brown]

Ah, yes. And we, of course, have to journey to Karl's native land of Russia, St. Petersburg, specifically. Born there In May of 1846, he was part of a very elite class of artisans, coming from a storied lineage of these types of very bespoke craftspeople. So his path was kind of already laid out for him in that he was the son of a fine jeweler.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, yeah. In the context of this era, your path, as you said, Noel, is kind of set out for you. If you're the son of a blacksmith, you're probably going to grow up to be a blacksmith. If you're the son of a cheese maker, you're going to grow up to make cheese.

[Noel Brown]

How dare you say that to me.

[Ben Bowlin]

How dare you, you son of a cheese maker.

[Noel Brown]

That doesn't sound good.

[Ben Bowlin]

That's pretty good.

[Noel Brown]

Although I do love cheese. The cheese monger also. The monger thing has always felt inherently insulting to me.

[Ben Bowlin]

But why do people only mong cheese.

[Noel Brown]

And war and f. Fish.

[Ben Bowlin]

Fishmongers.

[Noel Brown]

You're a fishmonger as well. I think the monger of it all has to do with, like, the fact that you apply your trade, like outdoors.

[Ben Bowlin]

And just selling on the street, mongering your.

[Noel Brown]

Your wares. But a warmonger would also be like, what would you call it? A profiteer. Like a war profiteer.

[Ben Bowlin]

Like a merc, A merciful. Anyway, luckily Faberge is not a one of those war monsters.

[Noel Brown]

He's a bling monger.

[Ben Bowlin]

He's a bling monger. Just so. His dad is a successful jeweler in St. Petersburg, and from a young age his son is training in that same craft. And his journeys take him to Frankfurt, to Dresden, to Paris, to London. At each and every stop, he is studying with the great masters of goldsmithry, a word I'm kind of styling on. And jewelry in General. It's the 1870s. Let's fast forward there. Carl inherits his dad's operation and at this time they are successful jewelers in St. Petersburg. But they are not quite Faberge as we understand it today. It's still a family business, but Carl.

[Noel Brown]

Having inherited his father's business, has got eyes on expansion.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. So Carl brings on his brother. I know will love this name. Agathon. Agathon. Is that like. Do you know any Agathons?

[Noel Brown]

I know an Agamemnon no, you don't.

[Max Williams]

No.

[Noel Brown]

I know just from, like, history. Agathon is incredible, though. It sounds like someone who would inherently be blessed with some sort of godlike, you know, thunder power. So, yeah, in 1882, this happens. He also takes on his own sons and they bring in another outsider, a Swiss artisan by the name of Francois.

[Ben Bowlin]

Perfect. Yeah. And their. Their initial thing from the jump is to make money. The house of Faberge is a studio, right? They require custom and they want to pitch to sort of the 1 percenters of the world. People of money and means begin to take notice and the folks in the know, like we were talking about 1 percenters increasingly looking for a way to financially flex. What they all start saying to each other is, this Carl Faberge guy, he's a brilliant designer. He specializes, yes, in precious things like gems and jade and gold and silver. And we know that he is informed, right? We're Russian nobles, you Max, me and us, listening along at home. And so. So when we're talking about how to flex on people, we're saying, you know, this guy has a lot of design aesthetics that came from very fancy French places, that came from very fancy Italian places. And they're not focusing on Novu Riche stuff. The question for a lot of jewelry of the day was how big is the stone? Right. The biggest diamond, the biggest emerald, the biggest ruby is not concerned with that. Like you were saying, Faberge is more invested in craftsmanship, in innovation, in creativity. And this is where he has a quote that I think really stood out to both of us. I'm going to say it, Noel. I think he's a little pretentious, but.

[Noel Brown]

That sometimes when you're the house of anything, pretentiousness is your stock in trade. You have to kind of set the tone, you know, of the era and sort of believe your own hype to a certain degree, which he absolutely was doing.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, yeah, yeah. And here's a great example. This is a direct quote from Carl, who later in life said, expensive things interest me little if the value is merely in so many diamonds or pearls. Like, to him, it wasn't the street value of the materials he was working with. It was, as you said, the aesthetic, the concept, the ideology.

[Noel Brown]

And that is really forward thinking because so many art objects and. Or fashion, iconic kind of fashion pieces, they're not expensive because they're made of, you know, magical stones. They're expensive because of the brand, they're expensive because of the design, and they're expensive because of this, like, sort of built in scarcity.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, 100%. Check out. Also, with no disrespect, the legendary success of brands like supreme, which I'm a fan of. I fully acknowledge a bunch of their stuff.

[Noel Brown]

I dig supreme hats, and I got a few of their shirts and a few, like, they did a run of things with, like, a collaboration with one of my favorite musical artists, Aphex Twin, and I got a few of those. But there is something inherently interesting and sort of grabby about this idea of once we do this drop, there's not gonna be any more like this.

[Ben Bowlin]

Right, right, Exactly. And that's great. Foreshadowing the reputation or the street rep of continues to grow. In 1881 over in Russia, his peers in the jewelry game appoint him as a quote, master of the second guild. This is Clutch af, because it means that he is no longer considered proletariat hoi polloi craftsman. Instead, he is officially recognized as a big deal merchant and retailer. Everybody says, okay, this guy knows his stuff. So if Carl makes something and Carl says it's good to go, boom. It does not need to be inspected. Good to go. It was good to go. It was Yoda voice. Like, he's becoming the Yoda of jewelry. I don't know if that lands.

[Noel Brown]

I think it lands. How are you feeling about the Spaceballs sequel?

[Ben Bowlin]

I'm excited. I'm bullish. I haven't checked it out.

[Noel Brown]

You know what's supposed to be great? Speaking of LEGO sequels, the new Naked Gun movie is supposed to be hilarious.

[Ben Bowlin]

That's what I heard.

[Noel Brown]

Very excited to see it.

[Ben Bowlin]

Good director, too.

[Noel Brown]

Akiva Schaefer, Lonely island dude. Yep, for sure.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So when Carl's crew goes to the Pan Russian exhibition in 1882, you know, kind of like the one Osaka World Expo or the. The world fair kind of thing, his crew wins a gold medal for their. Their exhibit, for their flex. And this is when Russian nobility gets super tuned in. This guy Carl Faberge is a superstar. Magazines from the time give us a sense of just how popular he becomes. One of their articles speaks to his revolutionary design philosophy and. And his status with the royal family. This is a quote from a magazine called Neva.

[Noel Brown]

Well, this is also a time when, and I'm sorry not to jump on the quote, which we'll get to in two seconds, but this was a time where Russia. We think of Russia as so, like, isolationist and kind of its own thing and kind of cut off from the rest of the world in a lot of ways. But wouldn't you say, Ben? At this time it's much more of a cultural melting pot and has a much bigger influence on culture outside of its, its boundaries?

[Ben Bowlin]

I would say so. Yeah. Cool.

[Noel Brown]

Just checking in. Just seemed like that was something worth mentioning. This like the Byzantine architecture and things of this era that definitely began to have impact outside of Russia. And this is the case with this type of craftsmanship as well. And making a name for himself, the Faberge house outside of just Russian nobility. So Mr. Faberge opens a new era in the art of jewelry and this is not just in Russia, this is just at large. Her Majesty honored Faberge by buying a pair of cufflinks with images of cicadas which, according to ancient Greek belief, bring luck.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. This comes to us from an excellent source. Faberge's One Man's Masterpiece and the End of an Empire by Tony Faber. And you know folks, at this point, as history has always proven, royal attention can be extremely good or extremely bad and there's little in between you.

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[Max Williams]

You can make a difference in someone's life, including your own, with a job in home care. These jobs offer flexible schedules, health care, retirement options and free training. They also provide paid time off and opportunities for overtime. Visit oregonhomecarejobs.com to learn more and apply. That's oregonhomecarejobs.com.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to deals time where you can enjoy store wide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions. Apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Ben Bowlin]

Folks, Balancing work, family and education is not easy. However, American Public University makes it possible.

[Noel Brown]

With online courses, monthly start dates, and flexible schedules. APU is designed for busy professionals who.

[Ben Bowlin]

Need education that fits lives, and affordability matters as well. APU offers the opportunity grant, giving students 10% off undergraduate and master's level tuition, helping you reach your goals without breaking the bank.

[Noel Brown]

Plus, they provide career services and 24. 7 mental health support at no extra cost. Visit Apu Apus Edu to learn more.

[Ben Bowlin]

That's Apu Apus Edu Thankfully, Noel, not to make this about us, but our encounters with various royalty have been extremely good.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, we were once walked in on by some royalty and we apparently we didn't stand up and we thought we maybe should have after the fact, but apparently that wasn't worth any strikes against us. So we got, we got some context, we have some. Oh man, hit us up offline, we'll talk.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, geez, how do we make it out of that one? Anyway, at this point, our buddy Carl is riding high. He's in the Catbird Sea. He's doing very well, but he's far from the only game in town. If you look at Russian court records from 1883, you'll see that the royal family has at least five different jewelry companies working for the Russian royal court. Our buddy Faberge is making only 6,400 rubles with them in 1883. To be clear, for the vast majority of people living in czarist Russia at the time, 6400 rubles is a fortune. But for him, he is making less than all of the other jewelers employed by the royal family. He is very.

[Noel Brown]

Is that because he's spending so much on materials and he just takes it so much. He takes it so seriously and cares about the quality?

[Ben Bowlin]

It's kind of because he's the new guy in town. House of Faberge is like a pilot program for these folks. He's by far the lowest of the high, which is a good thing, you know. And arguably Carl probably had these conversations with his colleagues. Arguably, being directly connected with the royal family of Russia is more valuable than the money, right? It goes beyond the money. Now you have the ear of the king and this is what happens. Okay, so it's after this exposition. Everybody's impressed. Royal family tunes in. They decide not to execute Carl, which they could always do because they're monarchs. This guy, Alexander III, you may have heard of him, it's 1885, and he goes up to our buddy Carl and he has a pitch. That sounds lucrative, right? If you're Carl Faberge. And to us it sounds patently ridiculous. He says, carl, look, I have wife. I'm not going to do the voice anymore.

[Noel Brown]

It's okay, you've done enough.

[Ben Bowlin]

We've done enough on that one. And he wants to make a special present for his wife. What's her name?

[Noel Brown]

I'm going to. We worked this out off the air a little bit. So let's do the best combination of the two of us. Together, we make one complete human being, Maria Fyodorovna.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, nailed it. I just had to put a little.

[Noel Brown]

Bit of stank on it.

[Ben Bowlin]

You put some stank on it. I like that. Fyodorova. So we gotta keep in mind that the royal family, at this point, they run the show, right? One of the most important empires in the world. They're already awash with your typical gems and baubles. They got the rings, they got the necklaces, the amulets, the bracelets, etc. So Alex doesn't want want that. He doesn't want a special necklace or ring or bracelet. He wants something unique. He wants a tchotchke, a bauble. He wants an egg.

[Noel Brown]

Yep, exactly. He wants a very, very bespoke egg. Not just any egg. Not the kind you'd make a delightful omelet out of. Not the kind that would birth a tiny, terrifying bird. Instead, he worked closely with Carl's studio, advising throughout the process. Art object that he had in mind. Alex and the team decided they would do the world's fanciest spin on an Easter egg. And isn't the Easter egg Easter is huge in Russia.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. This doesn't.

[Noel Brown]

And there's a lot of egg imagery in. In Russian architecture and art.

[Ben Bowlin]

Absolutely. It's a long standing Russian Orthodox tradition at this point to exchange decorated eggs for Easter. So this was essentially an insanely opulent escalation of that traditional practice. And they ended up with something called the hen egg. It's a little doodad, but it's extremely impressive from a technical perspective. And it follows on existing design philosophy. The materials you use are less important than the idea you convey. So, Maria.

[Noel Brown]

But also, like, let's use fancy materials.

[Ben Bowlin]

But also, let's, like, let's use fancy materials. So Maria gets this gift and when she. Let's go to the moment when she receives it. And here's what she's looking at. She sees a plain white enamel shell. My Tennessee came out, but we'll keep it. A plain white enamel shell. And that's representative of the egg. But holy smokes. Hang on. You can open the egg. And when Maria opens it, she finds something else.

[Noel Brown]

As we know, the Russians are also big fans of nesting stuff. So this sort of comes in into play here as well. The matryka dazzle. Yes. She opens that up and within it is another smaller egg.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

And then she opens that up.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

And I believe there's a tiny little pillow inside the egg made of suede material.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. It's stippled gold. And upon this rest an intricately carved tiny gold hen. And this is impressive. But get this. But wait, folks, there's more. As Billy Mays was wont to say, the hen itself also opens. And when you open the hin, there's a miniature replica of the Russian crown and it is drowning in drip. It's encrusted with diamonds. It's got rubies. The Russian crown holds a small ruby pendant. This is beyond impressive. Maria loves it. Alex gets massive hubby points. The entire royal court is going bananas and nuts with approval. This was going to be a one off, like a fancy. I don't know if it's well, but.

[Noel Brown]

How did trends in those days get created, Ben? It's when royals are stoked about something.

[Ben Bowlin]

Probably. You're probably right.

[Noel Brown]

I too must have one.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, yes, exactly. And as you said, limited supply. Right. We don't know if Alex was buying this as an apology to his wife for something possible. Anyway, the Russian royal family, they say this is not a one off for us. Like you were saying, Noel. They're going, I too must have one. They start routinely commissioning these eggs from Carl. And each egg is growing more and more elaborate with each iteration.

[Noel Brown]

Well, and also, Ben, I mean, I walk back what I said slightly. There's definitely within the royal family a keeping up with the Joneses thing. But part of the whole story of Faberge and kind of what it represents is that there's not an unlimited supply and that it's created in the style of or by hand by this very specific group of craftsmen. So the royal family does start commissioning those on the regular, making it a family tradition. After Alexander passed away in 1894, his son Nicholas II continues on with the tradition, commissioning further pieces, further elaborations of these designs, giving one each to his mother and to his wife Alexandria. And I mean, these are when we're talking, you know, the level of bespokenness in these creations. An entire year to create one.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes. Yeah. And Faberge is given this huge level of autonomy. He and his crew don't have to check in with the royal family when they make these eggs. All they have to do is guarantee that each egg must contain some kind of surprise and credit were due. Our buddy Carl, who is a visionary, he is designing these like he's writing or drawing pictures of what he thinks they should look like. And he's kind of project managing the work, but he is not actually in the trenches making the eggs. It's too much work for one guy.

[Noel Brown]

That's the case with a lot of big process oriented artists, like the glass artist, Shahuli, I think is his name.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, yeah.

[Noel Brown]

Who does these incredible stained glass arrays. You can go to his. It's a museum or at the very least an exhibit in Seattle. But there's a film about him. And he is the visionary behind these works and these installations. But he's got a team of workers and craftspeople that are, you know, doing his bidding. And it's what allows him to scale those works because they're huge. They're all these massively intricate combinations of stained glass kind of pieces. Three three dimensional blind glass.

[Ben Bowlin]

I don't know how I feel about that because it reminds me of the painter Thomas Kincaid or some of the airport novelists. Like, oh, who's that guy? Who. It doesn't matter.

[Noel Brown]

Well, I hear you, Ben. On certain things, I definitely agree. But let's also think about, like, film, you know, production. Like, you've got a filmmaker, a quote unquote director or whatever, whose job it is to guide the vision and direct the work of hundreds, dozens, if not hundreds of other very specific craftspeople. And yet it is the director that ultimately kind of is the most remembered name when it comes to one of those projects. So with something like this, with this level of intricacy and oversight, I think I'm on board with giving him the props that he deserves.

[Ben Bowlin]

I hear you. That's a really good point. Yeah. Because, you know, if you're the. Even if you're Stanley Kubrick or something, you can't also be in charge of the craft table. Right. A lot of stuff takes a village. Takes a village. And the house of Faberge at this point is a village. There are tons of people involved in crafting these eggs. Two of the most prominent artisans are Mikhail Perkin and Heinrich Vigstrom. These eggs, to your earlier excellent point about size, they are little doodads, right? They're little tchotchkes. I love the word tchotchkes. They're 3 to 6 inches tall, not counting their equally elaborate bases. All in all, there are 50 of what we call imperial eggs created from 1885. The first one, the hen egg, all the way up to 1917. There's a brief pause in commissions from 1904 to 1905. That's due to the Russo Japanese War, which we did a whole episode on one. Maybe more than one actually.

[Noel Brown]

Yes, do go back and check that one out. So Carl, he kind of saw that he had it pretty good in terms of like being not the only game in town in terms of elaborate, you know, design of bespoke jewelry pieces. But he had created a brand at this point. He had created a thing that it would almost be in poor form for anyone else to attempt at this point. Right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, yeah.

[Noel Brown]

Like it's his thing. Like, I mean, like they're going directly to him. You got to imagine though that there were imitators. Right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, Faubourger we call them.

[Noel Brown]

That's very good.

[Ben Bowlin]

We gotta keep it. So Faberge was, to your point, commissioned to make non imperial eggs. But these are all still very much for the 1 percenters of the time. People like the Duchess of Marlborough or the Rothschild family, the Usoprovs. Faberge was commissioned to a couple of eggs for a guy named Alexander Kelch. He even made one for the nephew of an absolute dynamite guy named Alfred Nobel.

[Noel Brown]

Yep. A guy remembered mainly for the peace prize that bears his name, but also, yeah, definitely the dude that invented like the least peaceful thing that ever could be brought into into existence. Dynamite.

[Ben Bowlin]

We. I wonder if we'll ever get in trouble for describing Al as a dynamite guy.

[Noel Brown]

No, I don't think so.

[Ben Bowlin]

It's accurate.

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th it's back to deals time where you can enjoy a store Store wide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery subject to availability restrictions. Apply Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

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[Ben Bowlin]

That's Apu Apus Edu we know that there have been as many as 69 of these Faberge eggs created during the era of Czarist Russia. 61 survived. We won't list all the 50 Imperial eggs, but you do need to know they are definitely the the top tier or as we say in video games, the S tier of the bunch. We should get into some of this Noel, because Alex, our buddy Alex or Alexei if you prefer, and his son Nikolai. Nikolai commissioned most of the imperial eggs. Alex signed on for 10, Nick signed on for 40. There are two more that were designed but never really fully completed because they came at the end of that era. Right now, the 50 completed eggs, there are 44 that are known to exist in some form, either complete or partial, which makes us wonder what happened man.

[Noel Brown]

So Some of these are lost to history. Right?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. What happened to your eggs?

[Noel Brown]

Doc and I do want to get into this. Maybe we'll save it a little bit of a. I think everyone listening probably wants a little bit of. Of a price list.

[Ben Bowlin]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Well, let's do it. Now hit us with some of your favorites because these are all unique.

[Noel Brown]

We do have a list of some of the most expensive Faberge eggs from that imperial. Well, not all of which are from the imperial realm, but one that definitely is, which is called the Third Imperial Easter from 1887. And if we were going to describe this one, it would be a golden egg kind of clock piece with like lion's feet. And it looks like the. There's a diamond pendant right in the middle and all of this gold filigree and you know, kind of. What's the word? Scroll work kind of, you know, and a beveled egg in this, rested in, resting in this kind of cradle with all of that metal work that I was talking about. And it hinges, the top hinges like an Easter egg, little plastic Easter egg. But as you do that, there's moving pieces, moving parts that raise up up a beautifully machined and very elegant looking. I sound like a monantique throat show clock.

[Ben Bowlin]

I love it.

[Noel Brown]

And a lot of these had. I think we didn't mention, we hadn't really described the look of too many of these. A lot of these did have really cool, ornate kind of moving parts.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Points of articulation.

[Noel Brown]

Points of articulation is exactly how you'd put it, Ben. Like for example, one that I saw you open the top and all of a sudden like this like fan of little framed portraits kind of like fans out. Really, really cool. So this one, the third imperial Easter egg given by Alexander iii, emperor and autocrat of all the Russias. That's how he's referred to. To Empress Maria feodorovna. That's the one original one we talked about for Easter 1887. I love this description on wartsky.com which I think is like an appraisal type site. The jeweled and rigid yellow gold egg rests on its original tripod pedestal with chased lion and encircled by colored gold garlands suspended from cabochon blue sapphires topped with rose diamond set bows. One's missing. It contains a surprise of a ladies watch by Vacheron Constantin with a. Sorry, too much French on that one with a white enamel dial and openwork diamond set gold hands. The watch has been taken from its case to be mounted in the egg and Is hinged, allowing it to stand up. Up. Right. Hazarding a guess here, y'. All. What do you think? How much for the third imperial Easter?

[Ben Bowlin]

The. For the one from 1887? You know that I know.

[Noel Brown]

I know that. You probably know, Max, if you were to hazard a guess, 118,000 pounds. $33 million. I might be close. I don't know how.

[Ben Bowlin]

What?

[Noel Brown]

A pound conversion is in for a penny, in for a pound.

[Ben Bowlin]

Let's start doing that. And that's an excellent guess, Max.

[Noel Brown]

Dude, that's the thing, man, with some of the stuff like this, based on where we exist, if outside of our research, just in the world, we have no frame of reference for an object worth $33 million.

[Ben Bowlin]

$33 million million dollars. That's right. I like the past tense there. Yeah. This is. So this shows us just. Just how rarefied the heir is in this situation. And one thing we have to point out for all our fellow astute, ridiculous historians, is that you will have clocked a specific year when the original house of Faberge stopped cranking out these eggs. It's 1917. Because you see, folks, the entire top. The house of Faberge is making nice with the Russian royal family making these objects of fancy for them. There's a lot of trouble brewing in the rest of the empire. The public is. Beat me here, Max. Starving.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Oh, Ben, we did not mention that context whatsoever. I mean, this is, you know, a absolutely despicably gross flex when it comes to what else is going on under their oversight.

[Ben Bowlin]

Right? Or lack thereof.

[Noel Brown]

Lack thereof.

[Ben Bowlin]

People are saying these royals are cartoonishly corrupt. The government's inefficient. Let's also consider if it's 1917. World War I has absolutely, absolutely obliterated the economy. Morale is in the toilet. People are again starving, like, wishing they could eat bread. While the royals are admiring their silly, expensive, inedible eggs. The people revolt. The imperial government is overthrown. No more eggs for you jerks. Cry the peasants. Fun fact about the Russian Revolution. Not really a fun fact. Russian Revolution of 1917 was two revolutions in the very same year. One in February, the overthrow, another in October, when Lenin and the Bolshevik boys take over and create the Soviet Union.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah, yeah. Check out the animated film Anastasia tell.

[Ben Bowlin]

You all about it. Yeah, right.

[Noel Brown]

Who only died in 1918. She was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, who was the last sovereign of Imperial Russia.

[Ben Bowlin]

And in the wake of this chaos, the Faberge workshop in St. Petersburg, like so many other private industries, is nationalized under the red flag of communism. Whatever we'll keep it for sure.

[Noel Brown]

No, no. And I mean, lest you be like, okay, come on, back to the numbers. Give us more expensive things. Just a couple more like 1897, ten years later. Later, from the third imperial Easter, we have the Imperial Coronation, which has got, like, a carriage kind of design. That one's valued at 18 million. But outside the Rothschild clock, which is almost as valuable as the original third imperial Easter, made for the Rothschild family in 1902. 25.1 million. But, Ben, isn't there sort of a modern carrying on of the Faberge name? Don't they, like, make stuff now? Because I heard something about a Game of Thrones Faberge egg.

[Ben Bowlin]

It is correct. You are. You are absolutely correct. The Faberge egg brand, or the house of Faberge brand, I should say, has been reconstituted. We know that there are. There are things. As recently as 2023, the House of Not Carl, they debuted the journey in jewels on a luxury cruise ship. So they're still keeping the hope alive in the modern day, despite the fact that Carl. This is a sad point. Carl, unfortunately passes away only three years after the Russian Revolution. He and his family have to skip town. Obviously, they will have been murdered. And he passes away in 1920 in Switzerland when he's 74 years old. We also know that amid all this pandemonium, some of the eggs disappeared, some were destroyed probably, but in our opinion, it's way more likely that a lot of these were squirreled away. Yeah, squirreled away and hidden in the nest of a private collector.

[Noel Brown]

Yeah. Speaking of the. Exactly, Ben, good with the egg metaphors. The egg references. The one that I think is the most beautiful and interesting sounding that we talked about today was the hen with sapphire pendant, which was the one with the little pillow and the egg within the egg that is among the missing eggs. And if you want to find out a little bit more detail, check out History Hit's article, the Mystery of the Missing Imperial Easter Eggs. And I just want to add. And then I'm done. It does appear that the House of Faberge's stock has fallen just a tiny touch even in their attempt at a rebrand here. Because that Game of Thrones egg that I mentioned, that is modeled after one of the dragon eggs in the popular fantasy TV series, only worth 2.2 mil. Only 2.2 mil.

[Ben Bowlin]

Peasants. Pshaw. Tut, tut. This is one of the weirdest parts of this entire tale, folks. Right now, as Noel, Max, and yours truly are recording this, and as you have joined us to hang out Wherever you are in this wide world, someone listening to this episode may indeed possess one of these missing eggs. It is not impossible that one of our fellow ridiculous historians may be just sort of fiddling with one of these missing eggs while they're listening to the show.

[Noel Brown]

And if you happen to make it to St. Petersburg, Ben, I think this is still a thing. Isn't there a museum where you can check out some of the ones that are still around?

[Ben Bowlin]

Yes, and we are in active conversations about whether we can make it to Russia. Oh, geez. That's a different story right now. What you'll notice, folks, is you'll see numbers for the missing eggs reported as anywhere between like, 8 to 7 to 6. And the reason that number is changeable is because there is still hope to find these weirdo missing eggs mentioned. Hen with sapphire pendant. There's cherub with chario necessary. There's Royal Danish. There's Alexander third commemorative. There's one called Mauve.

[Noel Brown]

Anyway, like, the color isn't mauve, like a. Like a reddish hue.

[Ben Bowlin]

I think you're correct on that one, man. Here's the thing. This is maybe where we end it. People are still finding these missing eggs. Back in 2015, the third Imperial Easter Egg was discovered by a guy who had been planning to melt it down for scrap. It's a great story. He essentially. He ended up googling the value of metal because he got a. They call it a jumble sale, but like an estate sale or.

[Noel Brown]

You know, I like jumble sale. They say that more like in the.

[Ben Bowlin]

The.

[Noel Brown]

Maybe the Northeast and the Midwest.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah, yeah, Midwest, exactly. So he said, maybe I can make $500 by selling this gold egg for scrap. And then he figured out it was one of the famous missing Faberge eggs, which means it's possible that one day these eggs might emerge into the public eye again. This is where. Okay, so here's where we end it. Noel. Max, if you ran across a. In the wild, right, like at a junk sale, at an estate sale, what would you do?

[Noel Brown]

Well, I will say I'm not. I would think I would know enough at this point to recognize it. But there is an episode of Pawn Stars, I think, where a woman asks for, like, $1,000 for what she describes as an ugly piece of jewelry because she doesn't really understand what it is. And they immediately clock it as a Faberge egg and offer 15k for it. I would eat it.

[Ben Bowlin]

You would eat it.

[Noel Brown]

You would choke on it, Max. Danger. Little bites. Little bites. That's true.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Noel Brown]

You guys Notice how they, like, totally phased out the original Kinder Egg designs in America because Americans are too stupid.

[Ben Bowlin]

Legal thing. Yeah, it's a legal thing.

[Noel Brown]

It is a legal thing. I missed the real ones with the tiny chokeable parts inside. Now you just get a little cookie with some icing.

[Ben Bowlin]

I like the little action figures.

[Noel Brown]

Exactly.

[Ben Bowlin]

It's about the intricacy, the points of articulation, and. And to Max's point there, you know, there's a guy who managed to eat an entire airplane by taking little bites at a time. We'll get to that story in the future. In the meantime, we cannot thank you enough for tuning in and joining us for another exploration of ridiculous history. So despite not being able to thank you enough, we do want to say thank you. We also want to thank Our super producer, Mr. Max Williams, his biological brother, Alex Williams, currently on adventures, who recorded this sick bop. You know who would do. Dude, you know who would buy a Faberge egg and be really weird about it in the office? Who? Jonathan Strick.

[Noel Brown]

J. Strick. He coveted. He'd hoard it like, same day. Can't you just imagine him? Yeah, because we have much more like Gollum. Just. Yeah. Covetousness. His precious fabric.

[Ben Bowlin]

I love that guy.

[Noel Brown]

Somehow make a Gollum accent, like, British and just miss both accents by a wide mile.

[Ben Bowlin]

Y' all be like that weird kid at show and tell where he has a cool egg that has a lot of. A lot of bells and whistles to it. And then he would want us to see that he has it, and he wouldn't let us play with it.

[Noel Brown]

Oh, what a jerk.

[Ben Bowlin]

Our favorite.

[Noel Brown]

Share with the class. No, Right. Mine, my own. Now, I will say y', all, though, I don't. I'm not like a blinkster or anything like that. I don't have, like, rings on every finger, like some kind of crazy neck piece. But as I've gotten a little older, I do like just a simple gold chain or two.

[Ben Bowlin]

You've been wearing one I've been wearing.

[Noel Brown]

I just. I. It's not about the flex. It's just about. I think it just. You get to a certain point where it's like, I do want to represent maybe that I'm a quote unquote adult who could, like, afford a gold chain, but not necessarily an iced out, you know, Death Row record logo.

[Ben Bowlin]

I'm gonna send you a great song by a group called Brockhampton.

[Noel Brown]

I know Brockhampton.

[Ben Bowlin]

Yeah. About gold chains. Also, big thanks to. Big thanks to Rachel Big Spinach Lance, the world authority on underwater explosions. Big thanks to AJ Bahamas Jacobs. Big thanks to Eve's Jeffcoat, Christopher Odis here in spirit and of course the rudest of dudes at Ridiculous Crime. And Noel. Big thanks to Apollo. Awesome Apollo says.

[Noel Brown]

Thank you very much you guys. We'll see you next time folks. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Now through August 26th, it's back to Deals time where you can enjoy storewide deals and earn four times points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hershey's, Cheez It, Kellogg's, Gatorade, Smart Water, Skinny Pop, Oberto, Zoa and Activia. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pickup or delivery subject to availability restrictions apply. Visit Albertsons or Safeway.com for more details.

[Ben Bowlin]

This episode of Ridiculous History is brought to you by American Public University.

[Noel Brown]

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[F]

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[Ben Bowlin]

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