A RARE SILVER FABERGÉ CLOCK, Moscow 1908-1917. Imperial Warrant and scratched inventory no 17689.

Makers mark of Fabergé, Moscow 1908-1917, the back silver plaque on the base marked Karl Gustaf Hjalmar Armfelt, 88 zlotnics. Set with 10 cabochon sapphires. Triangular shaped, decorated in the old Russian style, surmounted by a dubble-headed eagle, on four feet. The front with a relief depicting warriors in Viktor Vasnetsovs style. The base of red marble with silver plaques, the front inscribed: Highly esteemed Emanuel Ludvigovich Nobel from his colleagues at Russian Lloyd´s. The back: Oscar Kristoferson dated Maj 1934: " In memory of Emanuel Nobel from" L(udvig) Nobel; Rolf Nobel; Emil Nobel; G(ustaf) Nobel; Anna Sjögren; Marta Nobel-Oleinikoff; Hans Olsen samt G(eorg) Oleinikoff. Height 40 cm (incl base). Inside of key cover with scratched inventory no 7555 a. Key included.

The present Fabergé-clock was ordered to Emanuel Nobel's 50th birthday by his friends at Russian Lloyd's. Emanuel’s 50th birthday and the company’s 30th anniversary both fell in 1909. The company was at its peak, it was well run and it's profit distribution to the employees raised envy among competitors. Emanuel was Chairman of the Board in the head office in St. Petersburg. He now had the power and the title, and he had polished his skills as a financier with the best possible contacts with the Russian state and the European banks.

Emanuel Nobel was only 28 when his father Ludvig died and Emanuel took over the running of the oil company Branobel. His uncle Alfred was initially doubtful of Emanuel’s leadership ability, but his nephew developed as a business leader and made Nobel’s company flourish.

Emanuel became a Russian citizen in 1888 in connection with the Tsar family’s visit to Baku. He was later raised to His Excellency by the Tsar and member of the Russian Central Bank. He shared a household with Ludvig’s second wife Edla in St. Petersburg and was guardian of his seven half-siblings: Mina, Ludvig, Ingrid, Marta, Rolf' Emil and Gösta. Emanuel remained unmarried and, in time, he became increasingly like a Russian prince, with a weakness for grand dinners and jewelry made by Fabergé in St. Petersburg. Franz Birbaum, one of Fabergé´s work masters describes him in his memoirs as one of the firm´s best clients:" E. Nobel, one of the kings of oil, was so generous in his presents that at times it seemed that this was his chief occupation and delight, Orders were constantly being made for him in the workshops and from time to time he came to have a look at them. Often he only decided for whom the gift should be when the work was finished”.

As Emanuel himself had such passion for Fabergé's exclusive works it was befitting that his Russian friends and colleagues made their grand order for his 50th anniversary gift at the House of Fabergé.

With the Russian Revolution and the nationalization of all private property, however, everything was lost and Emanuel was forced to flee the country in 1918.

One of Emanuel Nobel's closest men at the time was Oscar Kristoferson who was his book keeper through the important years in Russia and later in Sweden, working his whole life for the family. After Emanuel's death the family decided to give the Fabergé-clock to Kristoferson, as a gift and a memory.

It has been said about the House of Fabergé that: "If the objects produced in St. Petersburg represented "La belle époque", the international Russia, before World War I, the objects produced in Moscow, symbolized the heart of the country, the Russian soul".
The Emanuel Nobel 50th anniversary Fabergé clock is a great testament to this.