Judge rules Faberge egg is a fake

LONDON, June 28 (UPI) -- A Faberge egg thought to be worth nearly $20 million is actually counterfeit and only worth $200,000, a British High Court judge says.

High Court Justice Stephen Tomlinson said the silver gilt and nephrite egg owned by art dealer Michel Kamidian was not actually one of the famed designer eggs created by jeweler Peter Carl Faberge, The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Tomlinson was ruling in a trial prompted by Kamidian, who alleged his "Dr. Metzger Egg Clock" was damaged during transport to an exhibition in the United States.

The 2000 transport incident occurred after Kamidian bought the item at a 1991 auction for $105,000, believing it was an actual Faberge egg created sometime between 1885 and 1917.

Tomlinson ruled Kamidian's assumptions regarding the item were not relevant and the art dealer should only be given $2,000 in compensation by the exhibition's organizers for the alleged transport damages.

"I think it very unlikely that Mr. Kamidian can really have thought in 1991 that he knew better than the experts at Sotheby's, or indeed better than every other dealer who attended the auction in Geneva," Tomlinson said.