History

The American oil billionaire Armand Hammer

Armand Hammer

Armand Hammer was an American business tycoon most closely associated with Occidental Petroleum, a company he ran for decades, though he was known as well as for his art collection, his philanthropy, and for his close ties to the Soviet Union.Thanks to business interests around the world and his...

 collected many Fabergé pieces during his business ventures in communist Russia

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 in the 1920s. In 1937, Armand Hammer’s friend Samuel Rubin

Samuel Rubin (philanthropist)

-Biography:In 1930. Rubin founded the Spanish Trading Corporation, following up in 1937 by founding Faberge Perfumes. He retained ownership of the company until 1963 at which point, it having been made a great success, he sold it...

, owner of the Spanish Trading Corporation which imported soap and olive oil, closed down his company because of the Spanish Civil War

Spanish Civil War

The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 and established a new enterprise to manufacture perfumes and toiletries. He registered it, at Hammer’s suggestion, as Fabergé, Inc. The Faberge family did not learn about this until after World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 ended. Unable to afford protracted and expensive litigation, in 1951 they settled out of court for US$25,000 ($ today) for the Fabergé name to be used in connection with perfume. Soon, Rubin added cosmetics and toiletries under the Faberge banner, usually sold in upscale department stores. Faberge had a high, prestige status, similar to rivals Coty

Coty, Inc.

Coty, Inc. is the world's largest fragrance company, founded in 1904. It is also a beauty products manufacturer whose main businesses are fragrances , followed by color cosmetics , toiletries and skin care...

, Guerlain

Guerlain

Guerlain is a French perfume house, among the oldest in the world. It has a large and loyal customer following, and is held in high esteem in the perfume industry...

 and Elizabeth Arden

Elizabeth Arden

Florence Nightingale Graham , who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.-Biography:Arden was born in 1884 at Woodbridge, Ontario,...

. However, by 1964, Rubin sold Fabergé Inc. for $26 million to George Barrie

George Barrie

George Barrie was the owner and CEO of Fabergé Inc. from 1964 to 1984. He was nominated for two Oscars for Best Original Song and created Brut...

 and the cosmetics company Rayette. In 1964, Rayette changed its name to Rayette-Fabergé Inc., and, in 1971, the company name was changed back to Fabergé Inc.

The Fabergé cosmetics brand

From 1964 to 1984 under the direction of George Barrie

George Barrie

George Barrie was the owner and CEO of Fabergé Inc. from 1964 to 1984. He was nominated for two Oscars for Best Original Song and created Brut...

, Fabergé launched many successful cosmetics products and hired celebrities to endorse them. In addition a media division made feature movies.

Mr. Barrie supervised Fabergé's introduction of the popular Brut

Brut (cologne)

Brut is the brand name for a line of men's grooming and fragrance products first launched in 1964 by Fabergé. The Brut line would grow to include aftershave, balms, and deodorant...

 toiletry line for Fabergé which was promoted by the football players Joe Namath

Joe Namath

Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...

, Paul Gascoigne

Paul Gascoigne

Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...

 and Kevin Keegan

Kevin Keegan

Joseph Kevin Keegan, OBE is a former international footballer and former manager of the England national football team and several English clubs, most notably Newcastle United....

, as well as the boxers Mohamed Ali

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...

 and Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper

Henry Cooper may refer to:*Sir Henry Cooper , British Heavyweight boxer*Henry Cooper from Tennessee*Henry Cooper , English recipient of the Victoria Cross...

, and the actress Kelly Le Brock  among others. Brut became the best selling cologne in the world at the time. It is still available in stores worldwide today.

In 1967 movie star Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...

 had been appointed a "creative consultant" to Rayette-Faberge. He spent a year attending sales conventions and visited Faberge plants around the world. In May 1968, Grant was elected a member of Faberge's board of directors. He received a salary of $15,000 a year, a rent-paid luxury apartment in New York City (where Faberge's HQ was located), unlimited travel expenses and the use of the company's private fleet of helicopters and planes. By 1970, Grant divided his time between Los Angeles and New York. He never endorsed specific products or appeared in commercials.

In 1977 Barrie launched the Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...

 hair product and fragrance lines and he signed the actress and star of Charlie's Angels

Charlie's Angels

Charlie's Angels is a television series about three women who work for a private investigation agency, and is one of the first shows to showcase women in roles traditionally reserved for men...

to a promotional contract with Fabergé. A famous Fabergé TV ad featured Joe Namath

Joe Namath

Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...

 being shaven by Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...

.

James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 actor Roger Moore

Roger Moore

Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...

 became another celebrity board member in 1970. George Barrie established Fabergé's filmmaking division, Brut Productions, in 1970 and produced the Academy Award-winning movie, A Touch of Class in 1973 and other feature movies.

Barrie launched the Babe fragrance in 1976 which, in its first year, became Fabergé's largest-selling women's fragrance worldwide.

The granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...

, model and actress Margaux Hemingway

Margaux Hemingway

Margaux Hemingway was an American fashion model and actress.- Early life :Margot Louise Hemingway was born in Portland, Oregon, and was the older sister of actress Mariel Hemingway and the granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway...

, received a $1 million contract to promote the perfume Babe by Fabergé in a very popular advertising campaign. Her famous Babe campaign was remembered again by millions after her mysterious death in 1996. Babe received two awards from the Fragrance Foundation for its launch, Most Successful Introduction of a Women's Fragrance in Popular Distribution and Best Advertising Campaign for Women's Fragrance.

By 1984, the company had expanded its personal care products to Aphrodisia, Aqua Net Hair Spray, Babe, Cavale, Brut, Ceramic Nail glaze, Flambeau, Great Skin, Grande Finale, Just Wonderful, Macho, Kiku, Partage, Tip Top Accessories, Tigress, Woodhue, Xandu, Zizanie de Fragonard, Caryl Richards, Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett

Farrah Fawcett was an American actress and artist. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels, in 1976...

, and Fabergé Organics.

In 1984, McGregor

McGregor

-Places:in Canada:* McGregor, British Columbia* McGregor, Ontarioin South Africa:* McGregor, Western Capein the United States* McGregor, Florida* McGregor, Iowa* McGregor, Minnesota*McGregor , house listed on the U.S...

 acquired Fabergé and discontinued many Faberge products. The company launched Mcgregor by Fabergé cologne the same year. New product lines were introduced including men's, women's, and children's apparel under the trademarks Billy the Kid, Scoreboard, and Wonderknit.

In 1986, Mark Goldston, a specialist in evaluating areas of untapped sales and profit, was named President of Fabergé. He was principally responsible for targeting and acquiring Elizabeth Arden

Elizabeth Arden

Florence Nightingale Graham , who went by the business name Elizabeth Arden, was a Canadian-American businesswoman who built a cosmetics empire in the United States. At the peak of her career, she was one of the wealthiest women in the world.-Biography:Arden was born in 1884 at Woodbridge, Ontario,...

 from Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company

Eli Lilly and Company is a global pharmaceutical company. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States...

.

Fabergé Inc was acquired by Unilever in 1989 for US$1.55 billion. In 2001 Lever Fabergé was formed through the merger of Lever Brothers and Elida Fabergé, two long-established Unilever companies. Lever Fabergé today owns hundreds of cosmetics, household, and other brands including Dove

Dove (brand)

Dove is a personal care brand owned by Unilever.Dove products are manufactured in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, Thailand, Turkey and United States. The products are sold in more than 35 countries and are offered for both women and men.. The Dove...

, Impulse

Impulse (body mist)

Impulse is a bodyspray manufactured by Fabergé which was part of Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch company based in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and London, United Kingdom...

, Sure

Sure (brand)

In the UK and other European countries, Sure is the name of a brand of antiperspirant deodorant for men and women produced by Unilever, marketed with the tagline "It Won't Let You Down"....

, Axe, Organics, Timotei

Timotei

Timotei is a Nordic shampoo brand owned by Unilever. The word Timotei comes from a wild grass called Timothy-grass. Timotei shampoo was launched in Sweden in the 1970s, and introduced to the world in the mid 1980s, but some countries only sold Timotei for a short period. The tagline was 'So mild...

, Signal, Persil

Persil

Persil is a brand of laundry detergent currently and originally made by Henkel & Cie; but which is now also licensed for manufacture, distribution, and marketing in several countries by the Unilever Corporation. Henkel and Unilever both manufacture their own formulations...

, Comfort

Comfort (fabric softener)

Comfort is the brand name of a Unilever fabric softener sold in the UK and around the world. The range includes Comfort Pure and Comfort Crème . Scents include Passion Flower and Ylang Ylang, Lily and Riceflower, Wild Pear and Ginkgo and the Original Comfort Blue.- History :Comfort was the first...

, Domestos, Surf

Surf (detergent)

Surf is the name of a brand of laundry detergent made by Unilever and sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa and many other countries. In the United States the Surf product line is owned by Sun Products...

, Sun, and Cif

Cif

Cif is a brand of household cleaning products by Unilever, known as Jif in Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and the Nordic countries. Cif is the largest selling abrasive cleaner product in the world.-History:...

.

However, in January 2007 Unilever sold its entire global portfolio of trademarks, licences and associated rights relating to the Fabergé brand. The new owner is Cayman Islands-based Fabergé Limited. Unilever removed the Fabergé name from all its products and packaging by the end of 2007. Brut is now marketed in Europe by Brut Parfums Prestige.

Future

The new owners have two aims for Fabergé. The first is to restore Fabergé as an exclusive luxury goods brand dedicated to Fabergé’s heritage by focusing on the highest standards of design and craftsmanship. The second is to create a supplier of individually branded Fabergé gemstones which guarantees exact provenance and ethical sourcing of the stones.

Fabergé Limited announced that it had recruited Mark Dunhill as its CEO effective from November 1, 2007. The company launched its 'Haute Couture' high jewellery collection on September 9, 2009.

TV commercials

• Farrah Fawcett Shampoo by Fabergé (1978), #1
• Farrah Fawcett Shampoo by Fabergé (1978), #2
• Fabergé Organics Shampoo
• Babe Shampoo
• Adiction by Fabergé (Lisa Snowdon
  Lisa Snowdon
  Lisa Snowdon is an English fashion model, television personality and presenter. She was the host of the reality television show Britain's Next Top Model from 2006 until 2009...
  
  )
• Margaux Hemingway
  Margaux Hemingway
  Margaux Hemingway was an American fashion model and actress.- Early life :Margot Louise Hemingway was born in Portland, Oregon, and was the older sister of actress Mariel Hemingway and the granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway...
  
  , Babe perfume commercial

Promotion

The cologne Brut 33

Brut (cologne)

Brut is the brand name for a line of men's grooming and fragrance products first launched in 1964 by Fabergé. The Brut line would grow to include aftershave, balms, and deodorant...

 by Fabergé had a product placement in the 1974 James Bond

James Bond

James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...

 movie The Man with the Golden Gun

The Man with the Golden Gun (film)

The Man with the Golden Gun is the ninth spy film in the James Bond series and the second to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...

. In the fight in the dancer's dressing-room, Roger Moore sprays two of the villains in the face with an aerosol can of what is Brut-33 anti-perspirant, a nod to the Fabergé company with which Moore was associated.

Limited licences to endorse products with the name Fabergé were given to Barbie

Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....

, Limoges

Limoges

Limoges |Limousin]] dialect of Occitan) is a city and commune, the capital of the Haute-Vienne department and the administrative capital of the Limousin région in west-central France....

, Franklin Mint

Franklin Mint

The Franklin Mint is a private corporation founded by Joseph Segel in 1964. The private mint operated from Wawa, Pennsylvania but that operation has now closed...

 and others.

External links

• Faberge Eggs Video at YouTube
  YouTube
  YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
  
  
• Faberge commercial at YouTube
  YouTube
  YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
  
  
• Lever Fabergé
• Samuel Rubin profile at undueinfluence.com
• Fabergé history from About.com
• Richard Barrie, Fabergé Inc.
• Rayette-Fabergé