Crossword Genius

Special miniature article, e.g. work by Fabergé, is dear (10)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

sweetheart

'is dear' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'special miniature article e g work by faberge' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'special' could be 's' (common abbreviation as in Special Air Service) and 's' is present in the answer.
'miniature' could be 'wee' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'wee' is located in the answer.
'article' could be 'the' (the definite article in English) and 'the' is located in the answer.
'work' could be 'art' (I've seen this before) and 'art' is found in the answer.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

(Other definitions for sweetheart that I've seen before include "Juliet had one" , "Dear" , "ducks" , "Darlin'"" , "Lover" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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