Luen Wo was a very important retail silversmith based in Shanghai, he also traded in jewellery, diamonds and embroideries. His artworks show a very high quality that only equals the standards of Wang Hing, in Canton.

Da Xing is a well-known silversmith active both in Canton and Singapore in the second half of 19th Century.

Famous for its fine craftsmanship, Da Xing produced silver for the wealthiest families in Malacca.

Probably the greatest and finest Chinese Export retailer, Wang Hing started trading in Canton soon after 1842 when, with the end of the First Opium War and the treaty of Nanking, China opened its ports to foreign merchants and Hong Kong became a British colony.

The firm, producing gold and silver items was established in St. Petersburg in 1866 by Gavriil Petrovich Grachev, who had previously worked for Gasse.

At his death in 1873 his sons Mikhail, Simon and Grigory took over the company and renamed it into Grachev Brothers. Each brother used to mark the artworks he produced with his own mark, as the firm didn’t have a mark on its own.

Of Jewish origins, Isaac Abramovich Rappoport was born in 1851 (although some sources say 1864) in Lithuania. After his apprenticeship in Berlin, he became a master in 1884 and moved to St. Petersburg, where he opened his own workshop and started working as head silversmith for Fabergé. A few years later he became a Christian and changed his name to Julius Alexander.

Nikolai Vasilyevich Nemirov was born in Vologda in 1819, into a merchant family. During his youth he lost both his parents and moved to Moscow in 1843.  In early 1850s he started working as a clerk for the silver merchant Ivan Ivanovich Kolodkin. Ivan Kolodkin didn’t have children and named Nikolai his heir, giving him his surname.

Stephan Wakeva was born in Finland in 1833. He went to St. Petersburg at the age of ten and was apprenticed as a silversmith. In 1856 he qualified as a master and founded his own workshop specialised in tableware, tea sets, tankards and samovars. Wakeva supplied the firm of Gustav Fabergé with silverware and from the late 1870s he had a contract with the company to work exclusively for it.

Pavel Ovchinnikov (in Russian: Павел Акимович Овчинников) was one of the most famous Russian silversmiths of his time and an exceptional businessman.

He was born in Moscow province in 1830, from a family of modest origins: his father was a serf. Nevertheless Pavel was sent to study in Moscow by Prince Dimitri Volkonski, where he was apprenticed in a jewellery shop.

Friedrich Mauritz Ruckert was born in the south of Germany in 1840. At the age of fourteen he emigrated to Russia to work for the Yusupov family. There he was named Feodor Ivanovich Ruckert.

In 1886 he opened his own workshop in Moscow at 29 Vorontsovskaya Street and one year later he signed a contract with Fabergé. He never worked exclusively for the well known firm, but for thirty years he was the main supplier of cloisonné enamel for the Fabergé company.

Ivan Khlebnikov (in Russian: Иван Хлебников)was born in St. Petersburg, son of a diamond and jewellery merchant. By 1865 he had his own jewellery firm, where he employed his sons Mikhail, Alexei and Nikolai.

In 1871 Ivan opened a factory in Moscow, employing around 200 artisans.

Within the premises of his factory he also opened a school of design and sculpture for thirty-five students.

Ivan Khlebnikov (in Russian: Иван Хлебников)was born in St. Petersburg, son of a diamond and jewellery merchant. By 1865 he had his own jewellery firm, where he employed his sons Mikhail, Alexei and Nikolai.

In 1871 Ivan opened a factory in Moscow, employing around 200 artisans.

Within the premises of his factory he also opened a school of design and sculpture for thirty-five students.

After his apprenticeship in Finland, where he was born, Erik Kollin moved to St. Petersburg, where he registered as a goldsmith and started working for August Holmstrom.

In 1868 he qualified as master goldsmith and two years later he opened his own workshop. Kollin worked exclusively for Fabergé and from 1870 to 1886 he held the role of head workmaster for the company.

Charles Nicholls and William Plincke (in russian: Николс и Плинке) were two English men trading in St. Petersburg who were granted Russian citizenship in 1804. In 1808 they qualified as members of the first guild and in 1815 they took over the business founded in 1876 by John Pickersgill. They initially traded under the name of William Plincke’s English Shop and from 1829 Nicholls & Plincke’s English Shop (1829–54).

Otto Samuel Keibel was born in 1768 in Prussia. He moved to St. Petersburg very young, becoming a guild jeweller in 1797. In 1808 he was named member of the city council. At his death in 1809 his nephew Johann Wilhelm took over the business, which rapidly grew and started receiving commissions by the Imperial Court.

Ignaty Sazikov (in Russian: Игнатий Сазиков) is undoubtedly one of the most important Russian silversmiths and jewellers of all times.

Born in Moscow province in 1793, he moved with his family to Moscow where he was apprenticed to his father. At his father’s death in 1830, he inherited his workshop and opened a factory in St. Petersburg and a professional school for eighty goldsmiths and silversmiths. In 1846 the firm received the Imperial Warrant by Tsar Nicholas I, becoming official supplier of the Tsar.

Gustav Klingert (in Russian: Густав Клингерт), originary from Germany, began his career working as a master for Fabergé. In 1865 he founded his own factory in Moscow employing over 200 artisans and manufactured items worth 400,000 roubles.

Henrik Wigstrom (in Russian: Хенрик Вигстром) is one of the most relevant workmasters of the House of Fabergé, along with his predecessor Michael Perkhin.

August Holmstrom (in Russian: Август Хольмстром)was born in Helsinki in 1829, son of a bricklayer. After his apprenticeship in St. Petersburg, he became master in 1857 and bought his own workshop. The same year he was appointed headmaster for the House of Fabergé and started working exclusively for the company.

Michael Perkhin (in Russian: Михаил Перкин) was, along with his successor Henrik Wingstrom (1862 - 1923), the most creative and talented head workmaster of the House of Fabergé.

The history of Fabergé (in Russian: Фаберже) begins in France back in 1685 when, due to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes the family had to leave the country to escape the prosecution against Huguenots and moved to Pernau, in the Baltic province of Livonia (now Estonia). Over the years the family name changed from Favri, to Fabrier and finally became Fabergé.