Fabergé eggs go to Smg Capital fund for $50 million

Gemfields Group has sold Fabergé, the famous luxury jewellery brand known for its decorated eggs, for $50m to Sergei Mosunov's venture capital fund Smg Capital. The sale is part of a business streamlining strategy by Gemfields, which had bought Fabergé in 2012 to strengthen its gemstone business and promote the brand in the jewellery sector.

CEO Sean Gilbertson said that this transaction 'marks the end of an era for the company', and that now 'Gemfields presents itself as a leaner, more focused group'.

Recently, Gemfields' shares have almost halved due to a drop in the luxury goods market and the unrest in Mozambique, which has affected its ruby mining operations.

Fabergé, founded in 1842, is famous for creating 50 decorated eggs for the Russian imperial family between 1885 and 1916. The first was made at the input of Tsar Alexander III, who commissioned the company to make a precious Easter egg, in gold and precious stones, as a gift for Tsarina Marija. Given the success of the first gift, the Tsar commissioned another one for the following year. The next Tsar, Nicholas II, ordered two eggs each year, one for his mother and one for his wife, Aleksandra, and the tradition continued until the October Revolution.

Thanks also to these objects, Fabergé became the largest jeweller in Russia. Today, the brand produces high-quality jewellery and watches.