A rare crystal and diamond Faberge egg, dubbed the Winter Egg, broke auction records on Tuesday, selling for £22.9 million (€26 million) to an unnamed buyer.

Prestigious auction house Christie's said in a statement that the Winter Egg had exceeded the £8.9 million price paid for The Rothschild Egg in 2007.

'One of the rarest' Faberge eggs

Russian jeweler and craftsman Peter Carl Faberge created 50 Imperial Easter Eggs for the Russian Czar and his family.

His work spanned three decades between 1885 and 1917. The eggs were elaborate and unique, each containing a hidden surprise inside.

The Winter Egg was an Easter gift that Czar Nicholas II presented to his mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, in 1913.

The egg measures 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) and features finely carved rock crystal. The masterpiece is decorated with a delicate snowflake motif wrought in platinum and 4,500 tiny diamonds. 

When opened, the egg reveals a removable tiny basket of bejewelled quartz flowers. The flower surprise is meant to symbolize spring.

Chief of Christie's Russian art department, Margo Oganesian, called the egg "the 'Mona Lisa' for decorative arts," for its superb craft and design.

"The Winter Egg is truly one of the rarest items that you can find," Oganesian said. "It's really hard to comprehend how Faberge created it."

The Russian Czar's annual tradition

Czar Alexander III began the Faberge egg gift tradition. He gave his wife an egg each Easter. Nicholas II, who succeeded him, continued the tradition but extended the gift to his wife and mother.

Nicholas II commissioned two Easter Eggs for his mother and his wife every year until the Russian Revolution of 1917 brought an end to the monarchy.

Faberge made 50 eggs for the imperial family and of those, only 43 remain, with seven missing.

Following the death of Nicholas and his family in 1918, the Winter Egg made its way from Saint Petersburg to Moscow. 

It was bought by a London collector from Communist authorities, who sold off some of Russia's artistic treasures in the 1920s.

The egg was believed to have been lost for two decades until it reappeared in an auction by Christie's in 1994, where it sold for more than 7 million Swiss francs ($5.6 million at the time). It was sold a second time in 2002 for $9.6 million in New York.

Edited by: Kieran Burke