A KINGLY GIFT: The first Faberge egg was an egg within an egg. It had an outside shell of platinum and enamel that held within it a smaller gold egg. The gold egg opened to reveal a golden chicken and a jeweled replica of the Imperial crown (Check picture in slide 1).
This special Faberge egg so delighted Czarina Maria Feodorovna that the Czar ordered the Faberge firm to design more eggs to be delivered every Easter
Later Nicholas II, Alexander's son, continued the custom after his father's demise.
Faberge's 1911 'Bay Tree Egg' on display at an exhibition in the Kremlin in Moscow on May 18, 2004. Viktor Vekselberg brought the famed collection of nine Faberge Imperial Easter Eggs back to Russia.
Photo: Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images