Faberge in the Far Future

[rancke]

I was reading a mystery novel involving the thefts of several Faberge eggs, and I began speculating about a Far future cognate of those eggs. Not eggs, but something similar: extremely portable wealth with room for more wealth inside.

Checking Wikipedia I noticed that the author of my novel had taken some liberties with the truth. I like her version better, and fortunately I can suit myself when it comes to the Far future.

Basically, the Emperor (which Emperor? do I make this a Classic Era thing or do I make it "historical"?), other members of the Imperial Family, and the archdukes are the sole customers for the objects. Those the Emperor gives away are bigger and more lavish that those the others give away, of course -- anything else would be a faux pas.

The jeweller might be allowed to manufacture and sell smaller -- half-sized, quater-sized -- objects to lesser customers.

In the end I hit on globes -- three-dimensional scale models of various worlds -- with surface details rendered with thousands and thousand of tiny faceted gems of varied colors.

But now we come to details of which I'm completely ignorant. What sort of resolution can one achieve? I.e. how many dpi (diamonds per inch ) or rather jpi (jewels per inch)? Does it even make sense to talk of faceted gems of that size? Would it make any difference (i.e. would they sparkle in bright light the way bigger jewels sparkle)? I'm thinking about making the Imperial globes about 15 cm in diameter and the other globes 10cm. Can you get a reasonable resolution at that size?

And how much would something like that be worth? I mean, an Imperial gift should be expensive, but are jewels that small actually worth anything at all? Ond could put something really expensive inside, of course, but what about the globe itself?

Faberge made one Imperial egg per year. How many globes would the Emperor give out? Also one per year? The first one would be of Sylea and be given to his wife. Subsequent eggs would presumably be of different globes. or would there be more than one globe of the same world? Each globe will have to be unique, that goes without saying, but one could make various variations of the same world. Subtly different jewels, one with a day- and a night-side... I'm sure there are other possibilities.

Opinions, suggestions, and facts all solicited.


Hans

 

[PathfinderAP]

Well, diamonds can be cut very small, (they use to cut them so small has to be used as a stylus on record players) and anything smaller (dust) was reused in grinding and polishing the diamonds,

But it makes no sense to bother about that scale, you have a large area of space to mine from, chances are you could easly find a diamond bigger than your fist, or even a basketball,

make it a solid chunk of gem stone, and have it craved, and only given by the Emperor, no body else,

 

[aramis]

Hans, based upon the jewels I've seen...

reasonable by gluing in place: 150dpi
reasonable by using jewel mounts: about 10 dpi.

 

[PathfinderAP]

mounted it can get smaller than 10 dpi.
I've seen it mounted in a cluster at more than twice that per inch,

 

[Lycanorukke]

Thinking over it - prehaps instead of boring old diamonds, make up some fantasic gems instead. If the real gems (as opposed to synthetic) are restricted to a single world (which coincidently happens to be a private reserve of the Emperor), they would go from a dime-a-dozen to priceless.

And you could tweak the properties of the gems slightly to make them even more valuable. The blue gems for water/oceans could appeasr to 'ripple' as they reflect light in certain ways. Day/Night cycles on the globe could be done by gems which fluoresce at set patterns over a set period so when carefully constructed they become brighter/dimmer according to the time of day. Some of the gems may even be lasing crystals projecting tiny holograms of clouds or the like a few millimeters above the surface.

Antiforgery/authenticity is easy enough - the multitude of gems have a tiny interference pattern on them (say done by meson carving or something). Totally unoticable but when a "jewelers laser" is shone at the globe it caused a hologram to be projected above the globe - which could say anything from "A Real Egg - signed the emperor", to a large projection of the globes current state. As each gem has part of the pattern only a genuine one can project.

 

[PathfinderAP]

You can mark a diamond with a laser
I remember hearing about laser etching diamonds by some of the insurance companies in the UK,

 

[Icosahedron]

'Brilliant' idea, Hans. I like the anti-forgery hologram, too, Lycanorukke.

But does the value have to come from jewels? You can get some incredibly expensive artwork with no greater intrinsic value than oils, pigments and canvas. The value is in the artistry and the rarity. Maybe the eggmaker is a nano-artist and the planets have molecular level detail showing individual buildings in the cities, with every road and every farmhouse mapped out for exploration by a recipient rich enough to afford a tunnelling microscope. You could still include micro-holograms for oceans and clouds.
The owner of such a globe could have more fun than you get playing with Google Maps.
I haven't done the maths to calculate the amount of detail you might get on a 15cm globe, but it's easy enough if you like the idea.
Maybe the globes are filled with anagathics? What is more precious than life?

 

[veltyen]

Maybe the globes are filled with anagathics? What is more precious than life?

Zeitgeist eggs?

An AI/expert system enclosed in a jeweled globe, with an accurate account of all things that have happened over a year, and a composite personality to match those occurrences.

 

[Lapthorn]

I seem to remember from the novel Dune that the Baron Harkonnen is first introduced spinning a globe of Arrakis made of precious metal and stones.

Inside could be a precious artefact from the modelled world - an artwork, even a fossilised lifeform.

 

[fiat_knox]

CT introduced zuchai crystals at some point - a type of mineral which was essential for the regulation of Jump drive, and extremely valuable.

Perhaps the globe is encrusted with zuchai crystals. You'd have to work out what colour those faceted crystals are, and so on - but perhaps due to those crystals, strange visual and auditory effects occur whenever someone holds the egg for more than a few minutes: hallucinations which linger for hours after being touched with the bare hands. Visions of distant worlds, or of the far distant past - or future. Anyone, not merely psions and sensitives, can perceive these images, which are fully immersive, involving all the senses.

If one such globe had been involved in a murder, that item's visions would be dark, sadistic: images of past slaughters connected with the "cursed" item.

 

[Whipsnade]

Gents,

Excellent ideas all! I'd like to remind everyone of two aspects regarding the Faberge eggs.

First, while they were all "eggs" and "egg-shaped", each was also quite unique. I'm not just talking about their ornamentation, they differed widely in size and weight. This was due in part to the use to which the egg was put; some were intended to remain within the Imperial family while others were gifts to persons outside the Imperial family.

Second, the Easter eggs Faberge made for the Romanovs were... well... easter eggs in every modern sense of the word. Each had a delightful surprise hidden or not so hidden away inside. You'd lift a hemisphere, swing out a section, or open a panel to reveal another exquisite feature like a cameo, miniature, or figurine.

I should think these features would be repeated in the Alkhalikoi Globes. There should different types of globes with the more ostentatious/exquisite globes originally being gifted from sitting Imperial head to their consort, children, and siblings and the relatively "lesser" globes being gifted outside of the immediate Imperial family.

As with the Faberge eggs, the "easter eggs" the globes contain should all be unique to each individual globe. One globe's "easter egg" would be the Google Earth version mentioned earlier while another globe would open to reveal a series of holographic portraits of the Alkhalikoi dynasty.

What's more the representation of each globe shouldn't always be that of an Imperial world either. How about one globe representing the night sky as seen from Earth or Sylea in the manner of a "star globe"?. Another could represent the "night sky" from the astrographic center of the Imperium.

While we can't imagine Alkhalikoi globes that are too marvelous, we should take great care to prevent them from being repetitious.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Madarin Dude]

As far as I know a major component of these eggs and things like them is that they are hand crafted. So that should be a major component of them also perhaps a lower tech world known for skilled artisans working with materials that are rare most other places in the Imperium.

 

[Lapthorn]

Potential adventure hook: it is the custom for an Imperial noble to travel to Sylea at least once to present the Emperor with a Worldglobe in person. The tremendous value of the "average" Worldglobe (if the phrase is in any way appropriate) regrettably can attract the interest of the criminal element. Those nobles unable to complete their entire journey on Naval vessels sometimes choose to travel incognito aboard a tramp freighter, either with a trusted crew or relying on anonymity to ward off trouble.

 

[fiat_knox]

Thieving a globe would be a challenge. Fencing the damned things, of course, would be an impossible task.

Each globe is made with a highly specific mixture of metals, whose composition is as distinctive as the holographic laser nanostamp on each individual gemstone used in its construction.

So there is a far easier target for the thieves.

Records of the construction of each globe are as prized as the globes themselves, as they can be used to make forgeries, but data is so much more easily obtained, and believe me, however expensive uncut zuchai crystals, bullion gold, lanthanum and lutetium are to obtain, the raw materials combined are cheaper to obtain than an original Alkhalikoi globe.

Just something to think about, if there are any players of criminal masterminds out there reading this ...

 

[Whipsnade]

Thieving a globe would be a challenge. Fencing the damned things, of course, would be an impossible task.

Fiat,

They wouldn't be stolen in the hopes they could be resold.

Instead, they'd be stolen on "on spec" as most high quality art is stolen today. Someone wants a piece of art and pays to get it regardless of the method with which it is obtained.

Look at the (in)famous robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardiner Museum nearly twenty years ago. While there have been stories about priceless paintings languishing in storage cubes somewhere in suburban Boston, the smart money is on the paintings being part of one or more very secret collections. The art treasures recently seized from the friends and family of Calisto Tanzi, the corrupt Parmalat CEO, are further examples.

Another reason behind the theft of a globe could be political. The Mona Lisa was once snatched for vaguely political reasons. If a globe is part of a noble's regalia; imagine the Grand Poobah and Marquis of Arglebargle-IX inheriting the ancient Arglebargle-IX Globe along with marquisate's offical Propeller Beanie, then snatching said globe could cause great embarrassment to the noble in question.

Finally, the theft could simply be the act of a nut much like how Michelangelo's Pieta seems to attract fruitcakes with sledgehammers like trailer parks attract tornadoes.


Regards,
Bill

 

[rancke]

Thanks for the replies, there have been some very useful suggestions.

I think I'm going to make it something Cleon IV did (I was going to make it Nicholle and Cleon, but Cleon reigns for 80 years, and I don't want that many Imperial globes (Or do I? Any opinions?)). Main reason why? So that the turbulent period of the Civil War will give plenty of opportunities for Imperial globes to be sold and stolen.

As for the artist, my handy-dandy Vilani name generator throws up Niraare Keramish. So, 'Keramish Globe'. (Why Vilani? To have fifty or sixty years at the peak of his profession).

Though come to think of it, his death might mean the end of the tradition, allowing me to have the run begin with Nicholle and still have fewer than a hundred globes...


Hans

 

[Whipsnade]

Hans,

I'd take a page from the actual history of the Faberge Imperial eggs and limit the numbers somewhat. I'd do this for two reasons primarily: A) I'd need to name most of the globes and decide what sort of surprises each contains and 2) I am not creative enough and am far too lazy to do that for more than a few dozen examples!

Historically, Faberge made thousands of the things, albeit only 60 or so of the real fancy ones for the Romanovs. Even naming and creating surprises for 50 globes is going to be quite a chore.


Regards,
Bill

 

[rancke]

I'd take a page from the actual history of the Faberge Imperial eggs and limit the numbers somewhat. I'd do this for two reasons primarily: A) I'd need to name most of the globes and decide what sort of surprises each contains and 2) I am not creative enough and am far too lazy to do that for more than a few dozen examples!

That's precisely what I was getting at above. Thogh the first ones shouldn't be too difficult to come up with names for:

465 The Sylea Globe
466 The Vland Globe
467 The Terra Globe
468 The Ilelish Globe
469 The Antares Globe
470 The <Gateway> Globe (Umm... what was the residence of the Archduke of Gateway back then?)

But then what?

Unlike the Faberge eggs there's no theme to come up with, just a world to choose.

The 476 globe is probably the Capital Globe, a bigger and more gaudy version of the Sylea Globe to commemorate the legitimacy of Cleon IV's claim to the throne (He took over from Nicholle in 475, but that year's globe would already have been in the works).

Historically, Faberge made thousands of the things, albeit only 60 or so of the real fancy ones for the Romanovs. Even naming and creating surprises for 50 globes is going to be quite a chore.

Agreed. Maybe I'll stick to the names and leave the surprises for someone else to come up with.


Hans

 

[Whipsnade]

But then what? Unlike the Faberge eggs there's no theme to come up with, just a world to choose.

Hans,

Again, let a lazy, gray-headed fat man suggest you simply "steal" from history. Remember, I never actually create. Instead I steal and modify!

The Romanovs gave the Eggs as gifts within the Imperial family. Alexander III began the whole schtick by giving his wife an Egg reminiscent of a objet d'art she loved as a child. So, we rope in the relatives and world associated with them for the Globes' designs.

After the no-brainer worlds like Sylea, Vland, Terra, and Arglebargle-IX are used up, Nicholle gives a Globe to her consort based on the consort's birthworld. Next year, it's a Globe featuring the planet they honeymooned on. The year after, the Globe is gifted to her mother-in-law and features the birthworld of that old battleaxe.

Cleon IV will have different relatives and in-laws, not to mention different life experiences, so a whole other set of worlds comes into play.

It's the Imperium so you theoretically have 11,000 potential Globes.

Two more suggestions if I may. I'd like to plump for a few "starglobes" in the mix, Globes that reproduce the night sky as seen from certain worlds.

I also think that it would be a nice touch if the Globe representing a certain world contained gemstones native to that world. Granted, diamonds are going to be mostly the same planet to planet, but they will be differences on the isotopic level.


Regards,
Bill

 

[Lycanorukke]

An idle idea since the Eggs are fancy Kinda surprises...

Have a Chinese puzzle box element, but the key to opening it is something specific to the world it is fashioned after. Say for the Arglebargle-IX globe you have to manipulate the 'star gems' so they align with the constellation of Boogabooga - when this is done it pops open. The Sylea globe has to be set up as the celestial bodies were at the founding of the Imperium, etc. And if the emperor doesn't tell how it opens when he hands them out, working out how 'your' egg opens could be a status symbol over those plebs who have an egg but are too dumb to open it.

As for the construction instead of being manufactured from pieces, have it grown as a giant gem. As each micro layer is grown it is doped with various elements to give it colour/holographic properties/empty space/whatever. The next layer is grown over this and doped and so forth. Internal circuitry could be incorporated this way and powered by thermal/piezo electricty giving fancier effects and anti-fraud measures.