New York bids farewell to Faberge masterpieces

The farewell exhibition of the nine Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs from the former Forbes collection which was bought by Russian businessman Viktor Vekselberg will take place in New York from February 12 to 15.

A spokesman for the Sotheby's Auction House said that after the end of the exhibition, the entrance to which will be free, these masterpieces and other jewels of the collection would go to Russia.

Last week, Chief Executive Officer of the Tyumen Oil Company Viktor Vekselberg bought the world's biggest private collection of Faberge jewelry from the Forbes family, the American media magnates, through the mediation of Sotheby's.

The price of the deal is kept in silence, but earlier experts evaluated the Faberge nine Imperial Easter Eggs and other 180 jewels in the collection at approximately 90 million dollars. As Vekselberg said, in Russia he intends to make this unique collection available for broad public.

Today, there are 42 Easter Eggs in the world made by famous jeweler Carl Faberge for the Russian imperial family from 1885 to 1916. Ten of them are kept in the Moscow Kremlin. Another nine will return to Russia in the near future.