What do you get the fantasy fiction-loving Russian oligarch who has everything?
Here’s a suggestion: a Game of Thrones-themed Fabergé egg. That’s right, the luxury jewelry house has teamed up with the costume designer behind HBO’s popular show to create a one-of-a-kind egg inspired by the ones that birthed Daenerys Targaryen’s famous dragons. It comes out this month to mark the tenth anniversary of the show’s debut.
The price tag? A cool $2.2 million, according to the Robb Report. Which is funny, because this thing looks less like an objet d’art and more like it belongs in a display case at Natural Wonders, that store in your hometown mall that sold pewter fairy figurines and velvet elf posters. (Even then, it’s likely to have more fans than Game of Thrones’s final season… .)
Made of 18-karat white gold with diamond panes and rainbow moonstones, the egg’s shell is formed by three interlocking wings that open for yet another pricy surprise: a pear-cut ruby from Mozambique that sits atop a miniature crystal crown.
“I knew instantly what the secret gift should be,” Michele Clapton, Game of Thrones’s Emmy-winning costume designer, said in a statement. “It had to be the crown that Daenerys believed throughout her life was her destiny. With the crown, I referenced her dragons, their wings sweeping around, protecting the beautiful Gemfields ruby that represents Daenerys, her house color, and her fierce quest to rule.”
A sketch of the Game of Thrones Egg. Courtesy of Fabergé.
Daenerys, who was played by British actress Emilia Clarke, was one of many characters who vied for the Iron Throne in HBO’s hit adaptation of the bestselling George R.R. Martin books. The egg’s design, Clapton said, references Daenerys’s “incredible journey and the importance of color within her costumes, her passion for her dragons, and the way she portrayed messages via her jewelry throughout her journey on the show.”
“Rarely has a story captured the imagination of so many people around the world, and this one-off piece is a once-in-a-lifetime collector’s item,” said Josina von dem Bussche-Kessell, a director at Fabergé. “[It] showcases Fabergé’s relevance today by encapsulating the ‘Zeitgeist’ of storytelling and artistry.”
Zeitgeist! The show premiered a decade ago.
But clearly, the egg is the product of much creative energy and many resources. To get a sense of just how many, consider how little time and money was left for the below animated teaser trailer, which—fair warning—may leave you wishing you had those two minutes back.
