By the beginning of work in the company, young artist Alma Peel had no experience, but she had talent. This is the only female designer who worked for Faberge.

Origin helped the girl get into the company. Alma Piel was born into a family of hereditary jewelers Holmström, who came from Finland. Her uncle, Albert Holmström, was Carl Faberge’s chief jeweler. Having become the director of the St. Petersburg branch of the company, he took his niece to work as a draftswoman. Alma copied all the products of the company into an album in watercolor and coped with the task perfectly, and sometimes tried to come up with her own sketches. One day, my uncle showed her drawings to customers and received an order. The sketches were considered excellent, and at the age of 21 Alma became an assistant designer.

Faberge Winter Series

The young artist quickly proved that she received the position for good reason. She was entrusted with an urgent order for Emmanuel Nobel, the head of the Russian oil empire and an important client of Faberge. He wanted to make 40 small and not too expensive, but original brooches. Probably, the jewelry was intended as a gift for the wives of foreign clients. The unusual design was necessary to prevent the brooches from being mistaken for a bribe.

Alma came up with some really unique art deco jewelry. Working on them, she was inspired by the patterns of ice and snow, which were practically never seen before in jewelry art. Winter decorations aroused general interest, they were talked about, but not repeated – this story became too recognizable. Completed the Ice Egg series with a diamond watch-pendant inside.

“Winter Egg” Faberge

After successful work with the Nobel, Alma Piel was invited to take part in the work on a gift egg for the mother of Nicholas II. In 1913 Easter was early. The winter motif invented by the artist brilliantly reflected the beauty of melting snow sparkling under the March sun. The egg is made of Siberian rock crystal, which looks like a transparent piece of ice. Beautiful patterns and sparkling brilliance provided brilliants and diamonds, only about 1,300 stones. The base is designed in the form of melting ice, streams of running water glisten with platinum and diamonds.

A surprise is hidden inside: a platinum basket with delicate anemones. The flowers are made of white quartz and the leaves are jade with green quartz. This Easter gift symbolized the awakening of nature and hope for the best. Alma worked on it with thoughts of her own wedding with her loved one. The egg has become one of the most beautiful and valuable creations of Faberge. The emperor paid 24,600 rubles for it.

“Mosaic Egg” Faberge

There is no doubt that the gift made a proper impression on the Empress Dowager. Alma was offered to develop another egg, now for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Thinking over the design for long evenings, the girl once drew attention to her mother-in-law’s cross-stitch. This is how the idea of ​​the “Mosaic Egg” appeared, which imitates an embroidered canvas with a Russian folk motif. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds and topazes, set on a platinum base, are used to create a cozy and feminine wildflower motif. From above the product is decorated with a translucent moonstone. The surprise inside is personal – it is a medallion with portraits of the royal children.

The masterpiece cost Nicholas II 28,300 rubles – the maximum cost for an imperial Easter egg. In the following years, the country went through hard times, and the budget for precious gifts was severely limited. New products could not surpass the beauty and luxury of the creations of Alma Peel.

Alma Peel. After the revolution

During her short career, Alma has managed to design approximately 2,500 precious pieces. In 1917, the Fabergé company was nationalized and the workshops closed. At first, Alma and her husband Nikolai Klee did not want to leave Russia. But in 1921, tired of the constant hardships and fearing for the life of Nicholas, they moved to Finland. The husband began to work in the Finnish office of the Kyumi company, with which he collaborated in Petrograd.

Alma in 1927 taught drawing and calligraphy at school. She worked as a teacher for 24 years, until her old age, and she did not tell anyone about her past life. Only after her death were albums with wonderful sketches found, and her beloved niece Lydia spoke about the achievements of her aunt. The precious eggs created by Alma were sold abroad for next to nothing in the 1930s and changed many owners. Now the “Winter Egg” belongs to the Emir of Qatar, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and the “Mosaic” is kept in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II.