The £20 million Easter egg hunt
If you want to see a truly remarkable egg this Easter then make sure you head over to art and antiques dealer Wartski in Mayfair by 5pm today where the last surviving Third Imperial Faberge Easter Egg will have its final day of being on view to the public – just 8cm high, yet estimated at around £20m. You may be thinking why would anyone want to look at a Russian antique when they could be getting the Easter break started early at the pub, but this one really is worth hunting for in Mayfair.
It was bought in the US at a bric-a-brac sale by someone hoping to make some money from the scrap gold, for just $14,000. Luckily it was saved from the melting pot. One evening in despair the owner Googled what he knew, to find a Telegraph article quoting Kieran McCarthy, director of Wartski, the Royal Warrant-holding experts on the work of Carl Fabergé. McCarthy immediately rushed over from London to make an offer. Obviously the Russian Tsars thought opening an egg to find a bag of Cadbury’s Mini Eggs inside was a bit pedestrian, hence the Vacheron Constantin pocket watch instead…
wartski.com