At Sea - Fabulous Faberge Eggs

On a ‘sea day’ on board the ship, I generally use the opportunity to catch up on my blogs. As I think I have indicated before, I am just not into sitting around on deck chairs drinking and/or reading like many passengers. Besides, it is so hot in this region I would be burnt, even in the shade, by the sunlight reflected off the water. And you might not notice you are burning because of the sea breeze. You should see how many passengers come in with bad sunburn! (And very scantily dressed, I might add, meaning they are prime candidates for skin cancer.) 

Nor am I into joining in competitions, or sitting around bars, or lying around having a massage and other highly expensive treatments. And I cannot go near the pools and spas because of my ears. But I really enjoy writing my blog, so I believe I am as content as the other passengers are, in my own way. 

However, the other day I got talked into going to a ‘lecture’ on Faberge eggs. I decided to go because I always appreciate fine craftsmanship and artistry, and there was that link with St Petersburg. Anyhow, I found the talk both informative and fascinating, even though I was fully aware that it was really intended to persuade some of us to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars acquiring a genuine Faberge creation on the ship. In fact, I was amazed that the jewellery shop would even have Faberge eggs when they are so valuable, but it turned out to be a passion of the sales manager, who gave the talk. 

After the talk about the history and design of Faberge eggs, during which we saw a couple of examples, we were taken up to the shop to see the rest of their Faberge collection. These pieces  were made by the very talented English great-grandson of the original Faberge, together with his team of specialised artists. As we were allowed to take photos, I thought you might like to see the sheer beauty of each piece too. All gold is 18-carat gold, the 'glass' is crystal, and the crowns on many of the eggs show they are meant for royalty. All come in superb cases.

Each egg was created with a surprise inside, as was commanded by the tsar who first commissioned eggs from the original Faberge to please his wife. He wanted to give her something different to her usual jewels (as you do!) We also were shown a Faberge watch which was the surprise in a golden egg, some cuff links and gorgeous pendants. How nice it would be to own one (or two). But I must confess I would rather spend my limited money on travel. 

The following photos were taken through glass show cases, some of which were above me, so sometimes reflections get in the way. But I thought they were still worthwhile.  

In my next post I will show you the big shopping ‘mall’ on this ship. 

This beautiful piece is a garden with a butterfly inside. The surprise is that when you wind it up, the butterfly flies and lands on a flower.  See the next two photos showing close-ups of different parts of this piece. 

The manager owns this piece himself. The surprise is that when you open it up, there is a mother polar bear with cubs inside. These are shown close-up in the next photo. 

This beautiful piece was created for a Jewish celebration. Notice the traditional candle surprise inside. 

The surprise with this lovely rose garden is it is a music box. And when you turn it around the roses in the middle disappear then reappear. 

The surprise inside this glorious royal blue egg is that there are two joined gold leaves on which the Ten Commandments are written - in Hebrew.

The surprise in this egg is a golden King Neptune.

The surprise in this egg is that the world globe rotates and you can show the longitude of a particular position.

The surprise with this egg is not inside it, but outside. The flowers have real diamonds on them and they shimmer. Their movement is quite surprising. 

These pendants were glorious, though this is hard to see in the photo, and like the large Faberge eggs, each opens up. You could put a little treasure inside, or a tiny photo.

More pendants, cuff links and a gold egg with a surprise luxury watch inside.