Among the capabilities that made the House of Fabergé world famous was the imagination and creativity displayed by their taking ordinary, everyday articles and making them into extraordinary things of beauty. Match boxes, gum pots, cigarette holders, cigarette cases, small bottles and boxes for every conceivable purpose, hand mirrors, compacts, cane handles, fan handles, lorgnette frames, book marks, place card holders, bell pushes, picture frames, desk accessories --- for their clientele, the nobility and the very rich --- these things were all in common and daily use. A letter opener, then such a simple desk accessory requiring nothing more than a blade with an edge and a point, a table knife might have served as well, but once the eyes of the Fabergé workmasters focused on it, any sows ear would be turned into a silk purse.

Here, a Romanov Letter Opener with an enamel guilloché handle in a blue that is so vibrant it seems almost to have light shining through it. Fabergé took the art of enamel guilloché and raised it to levels never even thought of before. Where earlier only 10 colors had ever been used, Fabergé brought forth so many color variations that their total color list reached 140. Imagine being able to produce 140 different colors each more vibrant and beautiful than the last. As I write this it seems to me that the word refinement best describes what his workmasters strove for. Using their imagination they refined every object on which they worked and reached unimaginable heights.

The Romanov Double Headed Eagle perched atop the enamel guilloché handle which holds a blade of Siberian Jade and, Voila!, a stunning letter opener that would bring compliments to any desk. Available in cobalt or emerald green, as shown here, coronation yellow and strawberry red.

Retail: $250.00. Our price: $224.90.