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Imagine the delight of Russian Empress Maria Feodorovna in 1885 when her husband, Alexander III, presented her with a very special Easter egg. Call him the king of all Easter bunnies—it wasn’t made of chocolate or candy, but was handcrafted by jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé using gold, diamonds, and rubies. The extravagant holiday gift was just the beginning of a long line of opulent Easter treats, and in total, 50 Fabergé Imperial eggs were made over the course of just over three decades. Today they are each worth millions, some in the possession of private owners and others displayed at various museums and collections around the world. The Fabergé Museum in St. Petersburg, opened in 2013, is where Empress Feodorovna’s famous First Hen Egg is now kept. Seven of the Imperial eggs, however, are actually still unaccounted for (happy hunting, kids).
The small, intricately decorated objets are true works of art: A 1914 egg has nearly 1,000 diamonds and 500 pearls, others a sapphire pendant and miniature portraits painted inside. They aren’t the Cadbury-branded versions or the pastel, plastic kind. These are the things that Easter basket dreams are made of.
Above, a look at the most stunning examples of the famous Fabergé eggs.