This may go down as one of the most over-the-top tours the travel industry has ever seen, though thankfully it doesn’t come out of the industry per se. In its 87th edition of the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book catalog, the high-end retailer stays on course and lists the gifts super-rich would potentially be interested in buying this holiday season.
And in it is its most expensive gift, how the 0.00001 percent would travel: $1.85 million gift of the “diamond experience” where the buyer gets a 25-carat rough African diamond from which to make a personalized ring, with the help of jewelry designer Maria Canale.
The package includes a trip to De Beers’ headquarters in London, a dinner with De Beers CEO in the Tower of London, and then a trip to Africa, on a vessel off Namibia’s coast, to trace the stone’s origins, among others.
Here’s the “suggested” tour itinerary for two, though for that price they better do anything the buyer asks:
- The “Forevermark Ultimate Diamond Experience” for two adults only, accompanied by Forevermark representatives
- Suggested 11-day trip itinerary may be condensed to suit client’s needs
- Trip includes first-class tickets to London, England; Johannesburg, South Africa; Windhoek, Namibia; New York
- Luxury accommodation at Claridges (England), The Hilton Hotel (Namibia), The Saxon and Tswalu (South Africa) and The Surrey (USA)
- Dinner with De Beers CEO Philippe Mellier and Forevermark CEO Stephen Lussier at The Tower of London
- A hardcover book documenting the highlights of your diamond’s journey commemorates the experience.
And of course who else but Stephen Colbert to make fun of the tour. In a recent four-minute segment on the catalog, Colbert spent two minutes on this tour and unveiled his own more affordable $1 million tour “The Colbert Report U-Pick-Em Blood Diamond Experience,” only this one is in Congo.