According to a recent Statista survey, money, jackets, perfume, and mobile phones are among the popular Christmas gifts in the United States. However, when it comes to discussing Christmas for the super-rich, often these gifts do not align with their standards.
Business Insider quotes Nicole Polardy Baim, founder of Lalaluxe design company, which provides custom gifts to its clients: “The amazing thing about billionaires is that there is usually no budget constraint, which allows us to think creatively without any limits.” For her services, she receives an initial fee of $600 per hour plus a percentage of the cost of purchased items.
Business Insider has examined a list of expensive gifts that wealthy individuals give each other for Christmas, which we will look at below.
Piano
Many experts say that giving a piano as a gift is a new trend. Elizabeth Brown, the customer relations manager at Knightsbridge Circle, explains that this gift is not necessarily a regular digital piano, but rather large pianos that cost tens of thousands of dollars and are valuable gifts that are both enjoyable for the recipient and usable as décor.
Hermes Birkin Bag
The Hermes Birkin bag, with an initial price of $9,000, may be the most unique and expensive handbag in the world, so it’s not surprising that it’s a popular gift for those with specific and expensive tastes.
One of Polardy Baim’s clients ordered a rare Himalayan Birkin with diamond hardware as a special gift. The bag, made from dyed alligator skin, cost $750,000 and required special security measures for delivery to the customer.
Space Travel
Following billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, two of Polardy Baim’s clients also go into orbit for their vacations. This gift package also includes training with NASA astronauts.
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Although Polardy Baim should not disclose the amount her clients have paid for their unusual vacations, we know that the cost of space travel with Virgin Galactic, Branson’s company, is about $450,000 per person. This is while the cost of such a trip with Blue Origin, Bezos’s rockets, can amount to millions of dollars.
Retreat at a Wellness Resort
Chesterfield says many of his clients set aside gifts like jewelry and cars in favor of travel experiences, especially trips that focus on wellness services.
Of course, these trips are not inexpensive. For example, a cycling tour in Mallorca, Spain costs about $6,000, and a stay at Vila Mari, Austria, which offers health-based caregiving and accommodations, costs at least $2,500.
Eating and Drinking
Chesterfield believes that people have a great interest in food and one of the gifts that is being exchanged these days is a home cooking class and dinner with a celebrity chef like Michelin star. Elizabeth Brown also says that food or wine events can be the centerpiece of an entire trip, and a ticket to the golden toques ceremony, famous for its wine industry (costing about $13,000 per person this year), plus a week-long stay in the host country, are excellent gifts for wine enthusiasts.
Tuscan Estate
For those with a larger budget for spending on wine, a Tuscan estate may be a better gift.
Knightsbridge recently helped one of its clients with the purchase of such a gift for their life partner. This gift, with a villa where Napoleon slept, plus honey and olive oil production facilities, cost around five million dollars. This way, they can enjoy Christmas dinner with their own wine.