In 1885, Alexander III initiated the custom of presenting his wife Maria Fedorovna with a Fabergé egg each Easter. Beginning with this particular egg, Nicholas II continued the family tradition.

After the death of Alexander III, in the short time remaining before the Easter holiday in 1895, Fabergé had not only to rework the egg that had originally been planned for Maria prior to her husband's death, but also to create an appropriate egg for Alexandra. The Twelve Monograms egg was the first Fabergé egg given by Czar Nicholas to his mother. Featuring in diamonds the royal insignia of Czar Alexander III set against a deep blue enamel background, Fabergé's understated creation was a fitting tribute for the mourning Dowager Empress.

The upper and lower halves of the egg are each divided into six panels by rows of diamonds. Each panel contains a cyrillic cipher of Alexander III and Maria Fedorovna, set and crowned in diamonds, which provide a simple yet elegant decoration against the dark blue enamel with a design of red gold. The egg was a gift for Czar Alexander III's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

Only under high magnification is it possible to notice the champlevé enamel technique. Areas for the enamel were carved out of the gold, leaving the thin red-gold ribs that form the foliate design. To the naked eye, it appears that the gold design was painted on the ovoid surface.