Emeralds were extremely fragile. If the floor was hard enough, an emerald would shatter when dropped, which was why the most common shape for ancient emeralds was the cabochon.
But cabochon-cut emeralds were unsuitable for displaying a gemstone's fire. Later, craftsmen invented a cut that even acquired its own specialized name: the Emerald Cut.
At royal jewelry exhibitions, there was a set of emerald tiara, necklace, and earrings. Sometimes the Queen wore the tiara to important events.
The Queen said she could not lower her head, because the tiara was so heavy it might fall off. And if it was made of emeralds, they would shatter when they hit the ground.
However, for some reason—perhaps a careless intern had accidentally dropped and shattered one of the earrings while moving the jewelry—Gerard had replaced it with another "gemstone" to make everything look "fine."
This new gemstone looked so perfect that it was no different from the original. Still, he carefully kept the secret until one day, while on a date with "Molly," he "accidentally" let it slip.
To protect this "shared secret," Severus and Gerard became "allies." Together, they fabricated a jewel thief named Yaroslav. If necessary, they could hand over the stolen emerald as "evidence."
Then Buckingham Palace's security personnel concluded that Yaroslav's graffiti on the walls was intended to create chaos within the palace before stealing some treasure.
Several rulers of the Romanov dynasty had loved collecting jewelry, especially Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. Both were fanatical diamond enthusiasts. Yet Severus "inferred" that Yaroslav's target was an Easter egg.
Most Imperial Easter eggs had been made by Fabergé, so they were also called Fabergé eggs. But in truth, not all such eggs were made by Fabergé. For instance, the 1903 Peter the Great Egg was made by