There may soon — potentially very soon — be a time when even the world’s greatest riches are unable to purchase one of Fabergé’s legendary Imperial Eggs. There will simply be none left on the private market.

The storied St. Petersburg jewelry house only ever produced 50 for the Russian Tsars Alexander III and Nicholas II, who commissioned them as Easter gifts between 1885 and 1916. Seven are missing, some of which have not been seen since before the Russian Revolution. The others are mostly in institutions or museums, from Moscow to Virginia, leaving just seven in private ownership.

Of these, some are in “fairly sacrosanct” collections, according to Fabergé expert Kieran McCarthy, meaning only three remain in what he called “truly private” hands and could ever be realistically acquired

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