Fabergé has nothing on Van Craeynest. Stanislav Kaufman, a jeweler with the San Francisco–based firm, recently unveiled a Fabergé-inspired precious egg with a price tag of $2 million. The piece features nearly 20 ounces of platinum, yellow gold, 3,000 diamonds and rubies, and, according to Kaufman, would have required the hands of six jewelers and diamond setters had the project been undertaken by Fabergé. "It's a totally different design than Fabergé," he says of his metal-and-stone (no enamel) egg. "And I did it alone."

After years of making Van Craeynest's jewelry through die-struck and stamping techniques, Kaufman yearned for a new challenge. He found it in this one-time personal-project-turned-obsession; for 12 years, he swapped weekend leisure for bench work to create the egg. Tools like gravers were used to chase gold and platinum over steel dies—devices used for shaping metal—under several tons of pressure. The finished object is a dense, porosity free, highly polished, and durable egg dusted with a healthy dose 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."

An ad featuring the egg ran in a San Francisco lifestyle magazine but failed to garner a sale. A potential buyer did surface but promptly backed out because—no surprise—of the economy.

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