faberge

It's not every day that Fabergé unveils a new high jewelry collection. In fact, following the debut of the "Les Fabuleuses" collection in September 2009, this is only the second such collection which the famed jeweler has debut since 1917.

The "Le Carnet de Bal" white diamond collection recalls the aristocracy of St. Petersberg when noble ladies still used actual dance cards to coordinate their gallant galavanting across the ballroom floor. The collection features items valued as high as $1 million, and features all white diamonds. It was appropriately unveiled at the recent Russia Week in London, where such auction houses as Bonhams, Christies and Sothebys featured century-old Fabergé originals.

Along with the landmark collection, Fabergé also launched its own iPhone application that allows patrons to "try on" Fabergé jewels virtually with the device's built-in camera and call a multi-lingual team of sales advisors at the touch of a button.

The numbers may not have big, but it felt like 2007 all over again during "Russian Week" in London. Russian billionaires descended on the art auction houses and fought fiercely for prized lots. Compared to last year, auction sales nearly doubled, with the Russians spending $86 million to repatriate icons, paintings, porcelain and Faberge items. This follows $18.5 million in Russian art sales by Sotheby's and Christie's in New York back in April.

The most popular pieces were early 20th century modernist works, with the top lot Alexander Yakovlev's "Titi and Naranghe, Daughters of Chief Eki Bondo." It was good for £2.5 million, almost tripling its high-end presale estimate of £900,000.

Sotheby's was the top auction house of London's Russian Week, generating £22.3 million by selling approximately 70 percent of its 615 lots. The result falls within the presale range of £19.3 million to £28 million.

Four auction houses are betting that the Russians will keep the art market recovery alive. Sotheby's, Christie's, MacDougall's, and Bonhams all have sales lined up this week, and the objective is clear: bring in Russian billionaires, and get them to spend. With a reclining nude portrait, Orthodox icons and Faberge jewelry all going under the gavel, sales could reach as high as $86 million.

Historically, Russians have been reliable buyers of their own culture's works, with William MacDougall noting to Bloomberg that classical nineteenth century paintings leading the charge and early twentieth century pieces showing promise.

And, there's hope from an economic perspective:

"Russia's economy is clearly in recovery and oil prices are up," William MacDougall, co-director of MacDougall's, said in an interview. "The main dark cloud is the Greek debt crisis. While it raises problems for euro-denominated assets, it should be good for fine art, which is a safe haven."

Last year, the four auctions were good for only 29.1 million pounds, down 50 percent from the same week in 2008. Prospects look far better for 2010. Sotheby's has 615 lots, one of which may go for 1.5 million pounds, and Christie's has more than 550 lots with a total top-end estimate of more than 11 million pounds.

On April 11, William J. Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers will hold an auction featuring an important Imperial Russian silver box, among other antiques and fine art.

The Russian silver and enamel covered box with a gilt interior has an enameled scene of an 1883 painting, "A Boyar Wedding Feast," by Konstantin Makovsky, signed I.P. Khlebnikov, and measures 1½ by 2½ by 35/8 inches.

Besides being a beautiful work of hand craftsmanship, the silver box is also interesting because of the circumstances surrounding its sale a year and a half ago. In fact, this is the second time William J. Jenack will be selling the silver box because the winning bidder the first time around refused to pay for his purchase.

Indeed, in September 2008, the box was sold at a William J. Jenack auction to a phone bidder for $400,000, which was the result of a heated competition that involved several members of the live audience and half a dozen phone bidders from around the country.

The box, which then had an estimate of $4,000 to $6,000, attracted a great deal of pre-sale attention. "Needless to say, no one anticipated the response that the box achieved," says William J. Jenack, auctioneer and owner of William J. Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers. "The comparables in the marketplace at that time, never reflected numbers that we were able to accomplish at that time."

Before the box even went up for auction, the auction house received countless calls from interested buyers around the country. "We had people submitting offers to purchase the box before the auction," says Jenack. "Some of the offers were so large---in the $70,000 to $90,000 range---that we realized our pre-sale estimate was way off the mark."

During the 2008 auction, Jenack noticed many people in the audience he did not recognize. The bidding opened at $40,000 and the bidding bounced around the audience until it reached $100,000 when phone bidders entered the competition. "The people in the audience gave up at $150,000 and the phone bidders carried the bidding to $400,000," recalls Jenack.

The silver box was sold for $400,000 (not including a buyers premium of 15% and any applicable taxes) to a phone bidder, who was a Long Island, N.Y.-based dealer who specializes in Imperial Russian works of art.

"The buyer later contacted us to see how much the amount would come to," says Jenack. "We provided him with that information and sent him an invoice." Subsequently, the dealer defaulted on the purchase, and litigation ensued.

In early March, a New York Supreme Court Justice awarded damages against the defaulting purchaser of more than $497,398, representing the successful bid, taxes and buyer's premium. The decision is currently the subject of an appeal in New York State courts.

"Now we have to sell the box again," says Jenack. "Whatever it brings will be deducted from the total that the dealer owes us."

The box is important because it was made by Khlebnikov, who was a craftsman who worked for the House of Fabergé, the jewelry firm in Imperial Russia that designed elaborate jewelry, silver and the famous Easter eggs for the Russian Tsars. Khlebnikov is known to have created objects on his own, such as this piece, without the Fabergé seal of approval. The Khlebnikov box has a pre-sale estimate of $100,000 to $400,000.

The April 11th auction will also highlight Period American, French & Chinese furniture; Chinese & African works of art; American & Continental paintings & prints including signed works after Nikolai Egorovich Sverchkov, Milton Avery, Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky, Bruno del Favero, Rolph Scarlett, Florence Kroeger, Charles Zacharie Landelle; animation art; fine & costume jewelry; small collection of stamps including Duck stamps; door stops; art pottery; Victorian porcelains; Vatican Papal Grand Cross Set of Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem; fossils including a fine ammonite (15 ½ x 18"-approx. 60 lbs) and decorative accessories.

Previews will be held at the William J. Jenack auction facility located at 62 Kings Highway Bypass, Chester NY 10918 on April 7th from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm; April 8th from 2:00 pm to 5:45 pm; April 9th and 10th from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm; and on the day of sale from 9:00 am to 10:45 am. For further information contact (845)469-9095 or email kevin@jenack.com. The catalogue for the sale will be available on-line Friday, April 2nd.

The auction, which will be held live in William J. Jenack gallery, will also be held simultaneously online at www.liveauctioneers.com. It will take place on Sunday, April 11 beginning at 11:00 am. The William J. Jenack website is www.jenack.com.

After two years of planning, Fabergé, the brand famous for its ornately jeweled eggs, has presented its first jewelry collection in 90 years. In 2007, Pallinghurst Rresources teamed up with the South African financial services firm Investec and other investors to buy the name with the plan to revive its Russian heritage. They invited Tatiana and Sarah Fabergé, Peter Carl Fabergé's two surviving great granddaughters, to form a Faberge heritage council to advise the management on preserving the family's legacy. The NY Times reports that the firm also put together a management and design team including Mark Dunhill, former president of Alfred Dunhill and Frédéric Zaavy, a Parisian jeweler.

In a move that is completely modern, Fabergé has said they will not sell the jewelry through retail outlets. Instead they are using a different model, selling through an ornate website, a Geneva flagship store and 15 sales representatives willing to meet big spenders anywhere in the world. Fabergé may be a new line but it has the benefit of a name that is known everywhere and is synonymous with the upper echelons of luxury. The brand began in St. Petersburg back in 1842 and became one of Russia's largest producers of jewelry and art works. The first Fabergé egg was commissioned by Czar Alexander III as an Easter present for his wife and the eggs came to define the line which was famous for the intricate craftsmanship of its skilled jewelers who created tiny marvels fashioned in precious metals and jewels.

The new line is aimed at the ultra-wealthy and does not include eggs but uses a variety of colorful gemstones sourced from around the world to create elaborate effects. On the Fabergé website there are three main collections: Les Fleurs, Les Fables and Les Fauves and each features fantastical designs in the shapes of flowers, animals and flowing shapes. Prices for the first luxury jewelry collection range from $40,000 to $7 million, but future items may sell for $15,000. The new designs have a mythical quality that mimics the sense of wonder felt when looking at Faberge eggs.

The line launches at a time in which jewelers, particularly those that do not specialize in bridal jewelry, are losing customers and facing diminished sales. But the fact that it is a known name may help it in growing economic markets in the Middle East and Asia. The company has said that it expected to turn a profit within five years.

Although there are no Fabergé eggs in the collection, the company may eventually embrace the opportunity to return to the classic form. For a look at Fabergé's past check out our egg gallery below.

Russian tycoon and Faberge collector, Alexander Ivanov tells Bloomberg that the high cost of building and Russian bureaucracy doomed his plans to have the world's only museum dedicated to the Russian Imperial jeweler Faberge in Russia. Instead Ivanov is taking his incredible 3,000-piece collection to Baden-Baden, Germany. The collection is said to be worth around $1.5 billion and includes a famous Rothschild egg, created in 1902 as an engagement gift to Baron Edouard de Rothschild. The egg has a clock and a diamond-set bird that pops up every hour. Ivanov bought the egg in 2007 at a Christie's auction for £8.9 million. The egg will be part of the inaugural exhibit which showcases the finest of Ivanov's treasures.

Ivanov's museum cost around $22 million to build. He says he chose Baden-Baden because it has been always been a popular resort for Russians and because the town was supportive to the idea. The Hermitage had also been planning a Faberge museum but those plans have stalled out due to lack of funding. It will cost 20 euros to visit the Faberge Museum and Ivanov is hoping to get up to half a million visitors each year.

Last year the Theo and Sarah Faberge family entered the watch making business - mindful of the highly collectible decorated-egg making past. The newest line of watches from the luxury house is the St. Petersburg collection with the Model 117/118 (one in 18k yellow gold and the other in white gold). Its a manually wound flying tourbillon movement based watch with a skillful amount of guilloche decoration on the dial. Cleverly, the tourbillon aperture window, as well as date dial, are egg-shaped. No explanation is required to explain that design element choice.

The overall design is highly reminiscent of Breguet watches with an emphasis on gold, proud looking Roman numerals, and a richly decorated dial that enhances rather than hinders telling the time. The rear of the watch is one large sapphire crystal caseback with a view into a skeletonized and decorated movement. The brown or black alligator strap is hand stitched (I would expect nothing less from Faberge), while the watch itself is hand made (and polished) in Switzerland. Price is just north of 63,000 Euros for these limited edition timepieces.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

We've already highlighted Swarovski's Annual Edition Ornament for 2008 but the luxury-minded shopper may have more sparkling needs in the ornament department. This iconic crystal company is offering sixteen other options for glamorous gifts or tree bling at your own home. Snowflakes are the most common design but angels, trees, stars and stockings with a touch of tasteful color will also ring in the holiday season beautifully. Even babies aren't forgotten with the pacifier- or duckie-shaped ornaments to commemorate a first holiday. Faberge's ornaments, available at Neiman Marcus, showcase a familiar egg-shape of mouth-blown glass with delicately handpainted designs. Jay Strongwater's Musical Ornaments at Saks add a sense of frivolity to your tree with a touch of Swarovski bling too. And Bergdorf Goodman is selling L'Objet's Pagoda Ornament which is14K gold-plated and adorned in freshwater pearls and, again, Swarovski Crystals.

A bejeweled tree is bound to make quite a statement during your holiday gathering and an even bigger impression as a gift.

Earlier this year, practically every art auction story had a rich Russian attached to it. But this week London's Russian art auctions followed the same gloomy track that the New York art auctions took earlier this month. Many of the sales struggled to hit their lowest pre-sale estimates. BBC News reports on the sales noting that last year a Faberge egg sold to a Russian collector for £8.9 million but there were not similar big sales this year. The top end of the market has suffered greatly as sellers try to adjust to the new pricing reality while the middle of the market continues to sell things at a steady but lower rate. The low sales results also undo some of the work that Sotheby's and Christie's have done in trying to get Russian collectors to put pieces up for sale as those who have pieces to sell might be inclined to wait out a down market.

Of course some beautiful pieces did find a home. The piece above, a Faberge gold snuff box depicting the Sacrifice of Iphigenia and tied at the top with a diamond-set bow did very well at the Sotheby's auction on Wednesday. It was estimated to sell for £60,000-80,000 but went for £373,250.

On Nov. 24, Sotheby's in London is offering an amazing array of objects by famed Russian jeweler Carl Fabergé in its impressive Imperial & Royal Presents sale. Fabergé is best known for his incredible jeweled eggs, though he produced many other iitems as presents for the Russian Tsars and their family.

It is these latter items, including picture frames, sniff boxes, vesta cases, paper knives, compacts and pill boxes, that are featured in the auction. The top-priced lot is a Fabergé silver-gilt pearl and enamel heart shaped photograph frame enclosing a miniature of Empress Maria Fedorovna, circa 1890, est. $90,000 - $120,000.

One of our favorite items is this Fabergé enamel and silver frame (above) with a photograph of George, Duke of York, later George V, a present from Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, est. $30,000 - $45,000.

This beautiful Faberge creation from Princess Grace of Monaco's collection, which has not left Monaco in over 30 years, was unveiled today at the Consulate General of Monaco in New York City.

Thanks to Prince Albert II, who inherited the piece in 2005, the Imperial Blue Serpent Clock Egg will be traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, where it will be on display with six other Faberge wonders in the Artistic Luxury exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art through January 2009.

The Imperial Blue Serpent Clock Egg was crafted in St. Petersburg in 1887, and presented by Alexander III to Maria Fyodorovna.

This fall is a great time to do some museum hopping if you have an interest in precious objects from all eras. There's the Hidden Treasures of Afghanistan exhibit which is headed to San Francisco, the Art Nouveau Jewelry exhibit at the MFA in Boston and now Artistic Luxury: Fabergé, Tiffany, Lalique at the Cleveland Museum of Art from October 19 – January 18.

This exhibit showcases jewelry pieces and luxury objects from the 1900 Exhibition Universelle at Paris's Grand Palais where Art Nouveau jewelry design reached its apex. The show is a comparative study of the work of three of the greatest designers of the 20th century Peter Carl Fabergé, Louis Comfort Tiffany, and René Lalique. It includes rare loans from public and private collections worldwide from lenders such as Queen Elizabeth, Prince Albert of Monaco, Joan Rivers, and Neil Lane and public collections from the Met to the Hermitage. The pieces in the gallery below are just a sample of some of the beautiful objects on loan. Shown above is Edward VII's Faberge enamel cigarette case which was loaned to the exhibit by Queen Elizabeth II.

The Berners Hotel, an Edwardian edifice in London's West End, is set to re-open in 2009 following extensive renovations restoring the famed spot to its former glory. The four-star hotel, named for Josias Berners who purchased the land on which it stands in 1654, was originally constructed in 1835 as five conjoined houses in the classical style. At the turn of the 20th century it was converted into a luxury hotel; King Edward VII was said to have frequently entertained his mistress, Lillie Langtry, in a private suite of rooms there, and it also served as the London premises of famed Russian jeweler Carl Fabergé. All 176 rooms as well as the landmarked public spaces are being restored to their Edwardian splendor under the auspices of JJW Hotels' Luxury Collection.

A princess's loss can be your gain at Christie's jewelry auction in London on June 13. Italy's Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy is auctioning off 41 lots of rare jewels in order to help pay her taxes. The most astounding piece is the Faberge tiara shown above. The piece is referred to as the Empress Josephine Tiara because the briolette-cut diamonds (the ones shaped like teardrops )were given to the French empress by Tsar Alexandra I following her divorce from Napoleon I. The piece was created around 1890 and is mounted in silver and gold. It is estimated to be worth $774,384 and $1.2 million but could bring more at the auction.

The name Faberge is synonymous with a craftsmanship so it is no surprise that their watches are beautiful masterpieces. Faberge relaunched their wristwatch line in 2005 and continue to make distinctive timepieces. Time Zone draws our attention to the Agathon, a watch which has a rotor in the shape of a the Faberge eagle. The round watch has a guilloché dial and is available in several different styles including the Agathon M1107 shown here which is limited to 25 timepieces, in white and pink gold.