Peter Carl Fabergé was born on May 30, 1846, in St. Petersburg. He was a Russian German. His father, Gustav Fabergé, came from a German family with French roots and was from Estonia, while his mother, Charlotte Jungstedt, was the daughter of a Danish artist. In 1842, Gustav founded a jewelry firm in St. Petersburg.

Carl Fabergé traveled across Europe, studied in Dresden, and then apprenticed in jewelry making with the Frankfurt master Joseph Friedman. Upon returning to Russia, he took over his father's firm in 1870 at the age of 24.

In 1882, at the All-Russian Art and Industry Exhibition in Moscow, the products of his firm caught the attention of Emperor Alexander III, who ordered a Fabergé egg for the Empress. The gift impressed the Empress so much that Fabergé became the court jeweler and was commissioned to create unique surprise eggs each year. Nicholas II continued this tradition, gifting two eggs every spring: one to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, and the other to his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna.

"Fabergé eggs" became a symbol of luxury and wealth of the imperial house and pre-revolutionary Russia, as well as a designation for jewelry in the form of eggs with surprises.

In September 1918, fearing arrest, Carl Fabergé left Petrograd, disguising himself as a courier for a foreign embassy, and traveled to Riga. Soon he was forced to flee further west to Germany. He settled in Berlin, but due to the revolution, moved to Frankfurt am Main, then to Homburg and Wiesbaden, where he finally settled.

Carl Fabergé never recovered from the shocks of the revolution, often repeating, "There is no more life." In May 1920, he began to have heart problems. He passed away in Lausanne, Switzerland, on the morning of September 24, 1920, and was buried at the Grand Jas Cemetery in Cannes.