2007 Luxury Gift Guide

Maybe you’re feeling especially generous, maybe you did something unforgivable, maybe you’re just loaded. Each year, our Luxury Gift Guide offers suggestions for gifts they’ll remember for years.

1-15 of 15

• Lego Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle Set

  

  A build-it-yourself Hogwarts with revolving portraits and flaming torches. More wholesome than the dark-arts book they’ve been requesting.

  $250 at Amazon

  Posted: 20 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Portrait Commission with Diane Rollins Feissel

  

  I hesitate to tell the world about her lest she become too busy to fulfill my gift requests, but Diane painted our wedding portrait, and it’s one of my very favorite things. We even joined forces with some friends last year to purchase a portrait as a wedding gift for some friends.

  I can’t resist the charm of marking an important life transition with artwork. Diane’s portraits are touching gifts for any occassion, but an especially lovely gesture for weddings, new parents, or grandparents who would love a family portrait. You can even commission her and allow the recipient to decide on the image they’d like her to paint.

  When it’s really important that you get it right, this is the way to go.

  $700 at Diane Rollins Feissel

  (Price varies by subject and size of the portrait.)

  Posted: 20 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Leica M8

  

  The coveted camera that makes photographers feverish with desire. Buying it online makes it less likely that someone has licked it before you receive it. Though you can’t really guarantee that, I suppose.

  $4,950 at Amazon

  Posted: 20 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Build Your Cellar Premium Wine Club

  

  The good life delivered to your doorstep. Every month, subscribers receive two superior bottles of red wine from acclaimed wineries with 90+ point ratings within the past three released vintages.

  $900 at Wine.com

  Posted: 18 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Airzone 14-Foot Band Trampoline

  

  Send them out to play. For five or six hours.

  You might also want to pick up a safety enclosure.

  $195 at Amazon

  Posted: 18 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Tahitian Cultured Pearl Necklace

  

  Would you like to hear her purr?

  There was a time when every little girl dreamed of owning a strand of pearls as the first component in her jewelry wardrobe. The pearls-go-with-everything period has passed, but Tahitian pearls are another matter. All the sweetness and nostalgia of her first strand of pearls, none of the archaic overtones.

  $4,650 at Mondera

  Posted: 18 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Six-in-One Family Game Table

  

  Pool, table tennis, knock hockey, chess, checkers, and backgammon. If you want them to turn off the TV, you have to give them a reasonable alternative.

  $244 at Hearthsong

  Posted: 17 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• New York Times

  

  A gift every single morning for a year.

  $681 at Amazon

  Posted: 17 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• The Z Club

  

  An excellent gift for folks who already have too much stuff. Zingerman’s seeks out rare foodstuffs and ships them direct. Every box is a surprise, but past shipments have included long-“extinct” raw stilton cheese, marmalade made from tiny Southeast Asian oranges, and an exotic elixir made from the tears of virgins. Delicious.

  $600 at Zingerman's

  (For four shipments of 8-10 items each.)

  Posted: 17 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Airplane Recycled Tire Swing

  

  Because kids yelling, “I’m flying!” is one of the best sounds available.

  $210 at Best Price Toys

  Posted: 16 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Rock Band Special Edition

  

  A video game that lets you play lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, and vocals to form a band that rocks the world. For authenticity, you’ll need a full media system in the garage.

  This one works with Xbox 360, or you can get one for Playstation 3.

  $200 at Amazon

  Posted: 16 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Kate Spade Custom Engraved Stationery

  

  Letterpress is the poor-man’s engraving. Fulfill her waspy fantasy.

  $424 at Fine Stationery

  Posted: 16 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Francis Francis! X3 Espresso Machine

  

  Soooo. One $3 latte a day for a year is $1,095. This machine pays for itself in six months.

  One of the best compact home espresso machines in the under-$1,000 price range. Excellent foam, small footprint, happy colors. Best of all, you can actually replace the parts when it breaks instead of throwing the whole thing away and starting over.

  $500 at Amazon

  Posted: 15 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Copper Still

  

  Because the bathtub gin he brewed last summer tasted like Softscrub.

  $970 at Distilarias Eau de Vie

  (Price varies by product.)

  Posted: 15 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

• Airstream Trailer

  

  You already have the giant red bow, and the new Mercedes doesn’t have nearly enough cargo room.

  $20,000 at Colonial Airstream

  (Price varies by product.)

  Posted: 15 Oct, 2007 by Margaret Mason

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