Neiman Marcus Christmas Book delivers lavish gift ideas

The super rich have one less thing to worry about, now that Neiman Marcus released its holiday catalogue on Tuesday with gift suggestions topping $1 million (621,735 thousand pounds).

His & Hers 2013, the most extravagant selection in this year's Christmas Book, is an outdoor entertainment system - a giant-screen television that emerges from an underground storage place, speakers and hundreds of movies - listed at $1.5 million.

At one-tenth of that price, a falconry companion set features a gold-plated perch, exotic skin falcon hoods, along with outdoor furniture, lead crystal decanters and cigars. The set, no bird included, sells for $150,000.

The Houston-based luxury store also offers a "Diamond Experience," which, at $1.85 million, includes a 25-carat rough diamond, a trip to the London offices of De Beers diamond specialists, a meeting with a craftsman to cut and polish the gem, a session with a jewellery designer to create its setting, and a visit to Africa, where the stone was mined.

A $30,000 splurge buys an overnight stay for two at the famed Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, designed by architect Philip Johnson, and a limited-edition Jeff Koons sculpture "Dom Perignon's Balloon Venus" is $20,000.

A hand-built Indian Larry motorcycle sells for $750,000, and an Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, only one of ten such cars in the world, is $344,500, according to the catalogue.

As of midday Tuesday, the first day the catalogue was available, the Koons sculptures were selling "briskly," but none of the other extremely high-end items had sold yet, said store spokeswoman Ginger Reeder.

Last year, a one-of-a-kind gift of a walk-on role in the Broadway musical "Annie" sold on the first day for $30,000 to a man who bought it as a gift for his wife, she said.

Typically the cars offered each year sell out quickly, Reeder said.

With the sale of each high-end gift, Neiman Marcus said it will donate money to charity.

Neiman Marcus has been publishing its Christmas Book since 1926, making it a store tradition to come up with unique and expensive gift ideas for its affluent customers.

Shipping for the gifts ordered on line is free.