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Faberge photo

The ruby and diamond Vagabonde ring by Faberge is priced at $342,000 U.S.

Faberge jewelry

Would you buy this $342,000 diamond and ruby ring via the Internet?

Would I spend upwards of $100,000 for a piece of jewelry online?

It’s a question I have been mulling over ever since I learned that Faberge is now selling jewelry on the Internet.

To some degree, the question is a hypothetical one. I could no more imagine buying a diamond bracelet sight unseen than I could fathom signing for a condominium.

But that is exactly where things start to get murky.

Like real estate, important, signed gems, have a value that goes far beyond their intrinsic worth.

And the allure of Faberge is without compare. In 1986, while visiting the Hermitage in the city then called Leningrad, I was floored by the diamond eggs and ruby snuff boxes crafted by Faberge for Tzar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Such frivolous items realized with such extraordinary expertise represented indulgence at its extreme.

From 1872 until 1917, Peter Carl Faberge, was the most important jeweller in the world, tending to kings, princes, tycoons, and potentates across the globe. Demand for Faberge’s treasures softened with the Russian Revolution and Faberge fled to Switzerland. In the ‘30s the name of the house was sold to brand perfume.

But it is precisely because Faberge has not produced a single piece of jewelry in so many decades that its allure remains frozen in time.

In September 2009, the house begins its from the ashes, with backing from Pallinghurst Resources, a specialist investment vehicle which purchased the Faberge portfolio of trademarks from Uniliver in 2007.

Peter Carl Faberge’s two great granddaughters have signed on, as have experts in Faberge’s history, and the house has commissioned a Parisian jeweler to create a collection that reflects the house’s legendary status. A Faberge shop has opened in Geneva. Otherwise, clients will have access to an e-store after filling out a form at Faberge.com.

If the new Faberge team can deliver the same quality the Tsars enjoyed, along with the whimsy that so deftly captured their imaginations, well… then we are in for a treat.

But at upwards of $100,000 per piece, selling through the Internet might be a stretch.