Inside Fabergé's £20 million Winter Egg: History, craft and rarity

Carl Faberge created 50 Imperial Easter Eggs for Russia's then-ruling Romanov family over a 31-year period, making them rare and valuable

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Faberge's The Winter Egg, considered one of the most beautiful creations by the legendary jeweller of Imperial Russia, was expected to smash records.

The bejewelled egg, estimated to be worth more than £20 million ($26.5 million), was to go on sale at Christie's yesterday. The price tag has not deterred international collectors, some of whom expressed interest well in advance of the sale, according to the London auction house.

Commissioned by Russia's Tsar Nicholas II for his mother in 1913, the delicate crystal egg created by Carl Faberge has changed hands and broken sales records multiple times over the last century. It is expected to surpass the previous sales record for a Faberge egg set in 2007 when the Rothschild Egg, which was not made for the imperial family, was sold for nearly £9 million to a Russian collector.