Peter Carl Fabergé is renowned for the approximately 50 Imperial Easter eggs he was commissioned to create for the Russian Imperial family between 1885 and 1917. While most of us receive chocolate eggs or bunnies for Easter, Russian tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II gave these elaborate, bejewelled eggs as easter presents to their wives and mothers.

This Easter – and for the first time in nearly 100 years – Fabergé Limited has unveiled a new ‘imperial’ pearl easter egg. The design of this egg took 18 months, with its inspiration coming from the formation of a pearl within an oyster. The egg was hand-crafted in the same way as original imperial eggs. 20 artisans were involved in creating the outside of the egg, which incorporates over 3,300 diamonds, carved rock crystal, mother-of-pearl and white golden luster pearls set into white and yellow gold.

The outside of the shell has six section that open to reveal a grey tinted pearl of exceptional purity that was sourced from the Arabian Gulf.

The egg was commissioned by the Al-Fardan family of Qatar, one of the most established and successful pearl merchants in the Gulf region.