Sure, inflation is out of control, and yes, people are still struggling financially as a result of the pandemic, but Neiman Marcus is once again rolling out its collection of ludicrously priced holiday gifts.
This is the 95th edition of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book. It all started in 1959, when cofounder Stanley Marcus came up with the idea to sell a steer to customers, which could be delivered either live or as steaks. It has grown to include motorcycles designed by Keanu Reeves, private planes, and lavish New Year’s Eve parties in subsequent editions.
This year’s entry weighs in at 200 pages, and some of the items are reasonably priced (by Neiman Marcus standards). Turn to page 76, though, and that’s when the fantasy gifts start appearing—for those people with entirely too much cash in their bank accounts.
The retailer unveiled this year’s gifts at a celebrity event on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles Tuesday. Here are some of the more outrageous gift suggestions.
What’s in the 2021 Neiman Marcus Christmas Book?
A giant honking diamond
If you’re looking for the height of luxury this year, the Dallas-based retailer is offering a 30.86-carat, heart-shaped diamond. At $6.1 million, it’s the most expensive item in this year’s Christmas Book. The buyer will get to name the stone with the Gemological Institute, linking it with his or her family for eternity.
Throw a party at the Apollo Theater
Gather 20 of your friends and host a private Roaring Twenties–themed party on the stage of Harlem’s Apollo Theater. The price tag for the shindig is a mere $395,000.
A treasure hunt
Fashion handbag reseller Fashionphile is offering a three-part closet treasure hunt that involves a $100,000 shopping spree with Neiman Marcus’s fashion and lifestyle director plus five vintage handbags selected with Fashionphile’s CEO. That will run you $345,000.
Custom Hummer
If you’re hoping to get your hands on a fully electric Hummer, you can either follow Jim Cramer’s lead and sell off your Ethereum holdings to buy one, or hand over $285,000 to Neiman Marcus. In addition to the car, you’ll get VIP access for two to the owner’s skybox at the 2022 Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale Auction and have a chance to drop the gavel.
Fantasy trips
You’ve got your choice of a few trips-of-a-lifetime this year. The first, costing $235,000, will whisk you away on a three-day luxury ski trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where you’ll enjoy a day on the slopes with Olympian Lindsey Vonn.
Prefer warmer weather? Perhaps a trip to Portugal is more your speed. There, you’ll get to design your own dinnerware and bring home a custom set for $80,000.
And if your holiday budget is running low, it will cost just $35,000 for a family trip to London, where your child can have a personalized book written about them by author Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara.
More must-read retail coverage from Coins2Day:
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- “No sign of relief”: The global supply-chain crisis could last well into February
- Retailers are paying big money to find staff for the holiday season
- Walmart recalls aromatherapy room spray after two deaths
- Chewy CEO Sumit Singh on the pet boom, the pandemic, and moving from puppyhood to profitability
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