A crystal Fabergé egg laced with platinum snowflakes and encrusted with thousands of tiny rose diamonds sold in London

on Tuesday for more than $30 million, an auction record for a creation by the famed Russian jeweler.

The Winter Egg was created in 1913 for Czar Nicholas II of Russia, four years before the Romanov empire collapsed in the

Russian Revolution. It was one of 50 Easter eggs that Fabergé is known to have created for the Russian imperial family

between 1885 and 1917.

The eggs, with their intricate motifs, enameling and fine jewelry work, came to symbolize the wealth and the

extravagance of the Romanovs. And more than a century after their fall, the extraordinary workmanship and scarcity of

these eggs still inspire collectors to shell out millions of dollars for a single piece.

Here’s what to know about Fabergé eggs, starting with the one that went under the hammer this week:

The Winter Egg is considered one of Fabergé’s best.

The House of Fabergé made the Winter Egg for Nicholas II to present to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, on

Easter in 1913, the 300th year of the Romanov dynasty.