By Joey Aguilar/Staff Reporter
Fabergé, in partnership with Alfardan Jewellery, has unveiled a one-of-a-kind “egg objet” yesterday at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition (DJWE), reviving the tradition of creating the most precious and coveted of objets d’ art.
Alfardan Group chairman Hussain Ibrahim Alfardan and Fabergé president Robert Benvenuto presented the rare gray-coloured pearl dubbed as “Fabergé Pearl Egg” at a press conference at the Qatar National Convention Centre.
“This egg in particular is almost two years in the making and it is we call it internally a ‘celebratory egg’ to celebrate the beauty of the natural pearls in the Gulf,” Benvenuto told Gulf Times.
“We have a very long relationship with the opportunity to partner with Hussein (Alfardan) that has access to the world’s most important collection,” he said, adding: “We put that together with Fabergé as I mention, with artistry, design and whimsy which has turned out something that was breathtaking.”
Paying homage to the forthcoming centenary of the last Fabergé Imperial Eggs ever delivered, the world’s most iconic artist jeweller has crafted an extraordinary egg objet in collaboration with the Alfardan family, known as one of the world’s most renowned collectors of pearls.
“I have a passion for natural pearls and it took me many years to build my current collection gathering some of the most extraordinary pearls in the world,” Alfardan said, adding: “Fabergé has a great history in making jewellery for royalty and a truly precious Fabergé Egg is a luxury treasure and the symbol of a long-gone era of opulence.”
The Fabergé Pearl Egg draws inspiration from the formation of a pearl within an oyster, and the egg’s painstakingly-crafted mother-of-pearl exterior opens to reveal a unique grey pearl of 12.17 carats, sourced from the Arabian Gulf and exhibiting exceptional purity and a highly unusual shade of grey.
Harnessing 20 highly skilled work masters, the objet embodies 139 fine, white pearls with a golden lustre, 3,305 diamonds, carved rock crystal and mother-of-pearl set on white and yellow gold.
Each pearl adorning the Fabergé Pearl Egg was hand-selected by Alfardan from his private collection. An ingenious mechanism enables the entire outer shell to rotate on its base, simultaneously opening in six sections to unveil its treasure.
The Pearl Egg is accompanied by a sumptuous Fabergé necklace of white pearls, diamonds and mother of pearl featuring a scallop motif, and finished with an exquisite 19.44 carat white pearl drop.
“This is why I partnered with Fabergé to combine these two traditional treasures: the Fabergé Egg and natural Arabian Gulf pearls, to create an exceptional
piece,” said Alfardan.
The Alfardan family of Qatar remains one of the oldest and most successful traditional pearl merchants in the Gulf. Born in 1933, Alfardan opened Alfardan Jewellery in Doha in 1954, now the exclusive retailer for Fabergé in Qatar.
Fabergé was founded in 1842 and won worldwide acclaim for its artistry in creating objets d’art, jewellery and timepieces. The Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs, commissioned by the Russian Imperial Family, are almost universally recognised as the greatest masterpieces of the jeweller’s art.
The most expensive piece made by Peter Carl Fabergé was a pearl sautoir, gifted by Tsar Alexander III and Empress Maria Fedorovna to Princess Alix of Hesse on her engagement to Tsar Nicholas. Made of natural pearls, it cost 250,000 roubles at the time, or more than $30mn today.
Hussein Alfardan and Robert Benvenuto present the ‘Fabergu00e9 Pearl Egg’ at the exhibition yesterday.
