Posted on 03/20/2014 8:01:34 AM PDT by JoeProBono
LONDON, A U.S. scrap metal dealer intending to melt down an ornament for its gold was shocked to discover it was a $33 million Faberge egg, a British expert said.
Kieran McCarthy of London jeweler Wartski said the scrap metal dealer, who wished to remain anonymous, bought the gold egg for $13,302 from an antiques dealer about a decade ago and had planned to melt it down and sell the metal, but the project was put on hold when he was unable to find a buyer, the Telegraph reported Wednesday.
McCarthy said the egg stayed in the man's home until a night in 2012 when he decided to Google "egg" and "Vacheron Constantin," the name etched on the timepiece inside the egg.
The man discovered a Telegraph article from earlier that year that included an interview with McCarthy and a picture of the egg in his possession.
"He saw the article and recognized his egg in the picture. He flew straight over to London -- the first time he had ever been to Europe -- and came to see us. He hadn't slept for days," McCarthy said. "He brought pictures of the egg and I knew instantaneously that was it. I was flabbergasted -- it was like being Indiana Jones and finding the Lost Ark."
McCarthy said he flew to the United States and verified the egg.
"I examined it and said, 'You have an Imperial Faberge Easter Egg.' And he practically fainted. He literally fell to the floor in astonishment," he said.
The egg, created by Carl Faberge for Tsar Alexander III in 1887, was purchased by Wartski on behalf of a Faberge collector.
McCarthy said the scrap dealer is "petrified" of his newfound wealth becoming public knowledge.
"He's from another world entirely. It's a world of diners and pick-up trucks, real blue-collar America, and he and his partner are still stunned by all this," he said. "When I saw them in January, they hadn't moved out but they were going to, although I think it was just to a bigger house around the corner. They've also bought a new car."
“Why would ANYONE want to melt down that (obviously) high end clock?”
i would have,for the gold, it’s a useless piece of antique crap!
Anything I haven’t used in 6 months goes in the trash.
Well, then you would have lost more than $32 million. The gold and jewels wouldn’t have brought $1 million at their highest prices.
The scrap dealer paid $13,000+ for it in the first place.
May I take out your trash?
The thing is a piece of junk, if it even works you probably would have to wind to make it work!
Was the antiques dealer legit?
I’m sorry, but that thing does nothing for me. Call me a philistine.
As to the scrap metal dealer’s “partner”, what’s up with that?
Well, let’s hope he can repel the IRS agents should they decide to rappel onto his roof.
I try to learn something new about the english language every day. And there it is.
I dunno.
Guess I'm more of a lEgg man.
And Obama will give it to him.
He paid $13,000 for a “scrap metal” egg? I ain’t buying that story.
Scrap metal dealers are sometimes knowing fences for pilfered metals.
A high end prize may draw too much attention, best to melt it down for scrap.
Unless it was part of a big load of scrap
no, not tacky, a masterpiece of the metalsmith (gold smith) art.
The watch and watch case aside, the egg is fluted on the exterior but smooth on the interior meaning it is made in two sections that have been mated with perfect dimensional accuracy. Furthermore it was done twice, at the top and the bottom sections that are hinged together.
Then there is the stand cast from a different alloy that shows the great art and dimensional control that went into the carving of the wax models used in the casting process.
Although an overused term, awesome is a much better desriptive than tacky
He eats in diners and is a “blue collar joe” but he wanders around dusty antique stores dropping $13,000 for a small piece of scrap metal. Nope. Ain’t buyin’ it.
I agree, a very suspicious story
I'm an ass man. At least that's what everyone says to me...."You're an ass, man."
on ebay that would fetch a fortune
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