For three hundred years, the Russian imperial dynasty gathered the single greatest hoard of precious stones the world has ever known—from crowns studded with thousands of diamonds to fifty mechanical, jewel-encrusted Fabergé Easter eggs. Then, in the span of a single year, the empire collapsed, the royal family vanished into the dark, and an unmatched fortune was scattered across the globe.
Tonight, we follow the glittering trail from the grand ballrooms of the Winter Palace and the vaults of the Kremlin to London auction blocks, secret diplomatic couriers, and an ordinary kitchen counter in the American Midwest. Dim the lights and drift off to the true, restful history of the jewels that outlived an empire.