US jeweler emulates Faberge 

San Francisco–based firm, Van Craeynest, recently unveiled a Fabergé-inspired precious egg created by one of their jewelers, Stanislav Kaufman. With a price tag of $2 million, the piece features nearly 20 ounces of platinum, yellow gold, 3,000 diamonds and rubies.

Kaufman believes the project would have required the hands of six jewelers and diamond setters had it been undertaken by Fabergé. "It's a totally different design than Fabergé," he says of his egg. "There is no enamel. It is all metal and stone, and and I did it alone."

Kaufman has been making Van Craeynest's jewelry through die-struck and stamping techniques, for years and wanting to put his skills to the test swapped weekend leisure for bench work to create the egg over a twelve year period. Gravers were used to hand chase the precious metals resulting in an outstanding piece of the goldsmiths art studded with a plethora of gemstones.

"I had always dreamed of doing something like a Fabergé [egg]," says Kaufman, a native of the former Soviet Union. "I call this The American Egg because it is made in America."

Source

http://www.jckonline.com/enewsletter/CA6627633/2791.html