Rare Fabergé egg fetches record £22.9 million at London auction

A rare Fabergé egg known as the Winter Egg sold for a record £22.9 million ($30.2 million) at Christie's in London on Tuesday, setting a new world auction record for a work by the Russian jewellery house, the auctioneer said.

An anonymous bidder purchased the egg, surpassing the previous auction record of £8.9 million set in 2007. Christie's specialist Margo Oganesian said the result "reaffirms the enduring significance of this masterpiece."

The Winter Egg, created in 1913, is regarded as one of Fabergé's finest works. Commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II as a gift for his mother, the piece once belonged to Russia's imperial family. The egg, carved from rock crystal, stands 8.2 cm high and is adorned with about 4,500 diamonds, including rose-cut stones, along with platinum snowflake motifs, says the BBC.

Inside, it opens to reveal a small basket of white quartz flowers. The egg was designed by Alma Theresia Pihl, one of only two female workmasters at Fabergé's St Petersburg workshop.

Fabergé produced 50 imperial eggs for the Romanov family between 1885 and 1917. The Imperial Winter Egg is one of only seven that remain in private hands, with the others held by museums, institutions or unaccounted for since the early 20th century.