DALLAS – Luxury retailer Neiman Marcus rolled out its annual holiday catalog Tuesday, and the priciest gift this year is a pair of “his and hers” timepieces for just over $1 million from Van Cleef & Arpels.
The watches depict a tale of lost love on the faces and come with a trip to romantic Paris and Geneva.
Dallas-based Neiman Marcus is known for featuring expensive and often outrageous “fantasy gifts” in its Christmas Book. The 86th edition also includes a red special-edition McLaren 12C Spider for $354,000, a henhouse inspired by France’s Versailles palace for $100,000 and a walk-on role in Broadway’s “Annie: The Musical” for $30,000.
Those with smaller budgets can take heart, though – almost 40 percent of the items offered in the catalog cost less than $250. The cheapest item is a $10 monogrammed mug.
The “his and hers” watches each show a scene from the love story. One depicts a scene of a woman on the observation deck of the Eiffel Tower, gazing toward Notre Dame. The other watch features a man on top of Notre Dame looking toward the Eiffel Tower.
“It’s a classic love story. Boy meets girl, a romance is sparked, but fate has intervened and they are separated, but both are left longing to find one another,” said Marisa Neira, watch product manager for Van Cleef & Arpels.
The watches and the trip cost $1.09 million. While in Geneva, buyers receive a tour that includes the Van Cleef & Arpels watchmaking workshops.
Other offerings include a $90,000 gaming machine, a $150,000 woody tailgate trailer complete with a sound system and stocked bar, a $99,500 water-propelled jetpack, a $250,000 private dinner for 10 featuring four famous chefs and a $70,000 piece of art by Robert Wilson that features a video portrait of a snow owl.
All nine of the fantasy gifts are paired with a charity that will benefit from their sale.
