Rare Fabergé Clock With Royal Ties Heads to Auction

By Annie Davidson Watson | June 10, 2025

A Fabergé desk clock that has been passed down through descendants of Queen Astrid of the Belgians is going on the block June 19 at the Piguet auction house in Geneva.

Created in 1907 by Fabergé master goldsmith Henrik Wigström, the clock is expected to achieve between $36,000 and $60,000 at auction. It bears the marks “H.W.” and “Fabergé”—indicating its origin in Wigström’s workshop at Fabergé, jeweler for the Russian Imperial court—and is believed to have been a 30th birthday gift for Princess Ingeborg (Astrid’s mother) in 1908, during the reign of Russian czar Nicholas II.

The clock is framed in gold with a frieze including heart shapes and is decorated with garlands of leaves in blue guilloché enamel, separated by vertical white enamel fluting highlighted in gilding. Its white dial, with black Arabic numerals and rose gold hands, is encircled by a pearl-set border.

Astrid, who died in 1935 at age 29, reigned as queen of the Belgians during the last two years of her life. She received the desk clock from Princess Ingeborg (1878–1958)—a niece of Russian empress Maria Feodorovna (1847–1928), born Dagmar of Denmark.

The clock has remained in the family’s possession until now. It was displayed in a Fabergé retrospective at the Kunsthalle Munich in 1986–1987, on loan from Queen Astrid’s daughter, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg.

Bernard Piguet, auctioneer for the sale and founder of the Piguet auction house, said in a statement: “It is an incredible privilege to earn the trust of Europe’s greatest aristocratic families, but also a great responsibility to find the right setting so that these prestigious objects may continue their journey with a new owner worthy of their history.”

(Photos courtesy of Piguet)

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