Neiman Marcus Christmas Book Fantasy Gift Comes With a Tour of Van Cleef & Arpels

Neiman Marcus unveiled its 86th annual Christmas Book today, which included plenty of jewelry as well as one ''fantasy gift'' of his and hers watches.  Designer Ippolita features jewelry of clear quartz, mother-of-pearl, shell, gemstone and 18-karat gold with price points from just under $4,000 all the way up to $10,000 in the Christmas Book. Roberto Coin  created ''decadence to an extreme'' with a suite of precious stones linked together in an intricate mosaic to highlight shades of smoky quartz in and amongst white diamonds, cognac diamonds in 18-karat yellow gold jewelry with a price range of $6,300 to $25,000. The Neiman Marcus Christmas  catalog also featured a collection of mosaic pavé pinky rings from David Yurman with price points between $5,400 to $11,500. 

Throughout Christmas Book, numerous fashion jewelry collections by  Jose & Maria Barrera for Neiman Marcus adorn the models, such as a classic chandelier earrings  in topaz, glass, crystal and colored cubic zirconia; jet black Austrian crystal and a gunmetal-plated necklace and bangles that are generally offered in price points below $1,000.

John Hardy created a Neiman Marcus exclusive this year to commemorate the Year of the Dragon with jewelry of ruby, sterling silver, and 18-karat gold, from the Naga Collection. Pieces include a kick cuff, ring, earrings and necklace in a price range of $895 to almost $6,000.

The top jewelry gift in this year's Christmas Book begins with a classic story: Boy meets girl. As the fantasy goes, ''A romance is sparked. They share a kiss at midnight on Paris’s Pont des Arts. But fate intervenes, and they are separated. Each night, they send wishes — he upon a star, she upon a kite— that, one day, they will reunite.''

To capture that tale, Neiman Marcus offers one set of his and hers ''Poetic Wish'' watches from  Van Cleef & Arpels for $1,090,000. But the lucky buyer will also receive two business-class tickets to Paris and Geneva to tour the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique, atelier, and watchmaking workshops.  Neiman Marcus will be donating  $10,000 for each ''His & Hers 2012'' gift sold to The Norman Mailer Center, which supports writers who challenge readers’ perspectives on the world around them.

Other fantasy gifts this year include ''Beau Coop,'' a bespoke Versailles-inspired, custom-made, multi-level le petit trianon  for hens with a living room,  a broody room and a library filled with chicken and gardening books for visitors of the human kind. Challenge the gamer inside with a custom-made Pinel & Pinel Arcade PS Trunk gaming toy or if Broadway is more your style, one fantasy gift is a walk-on performer for the musical ''Annie.'' Tailgate in style with the Bulleit Frontier Whiskey Woody-Tailgate Trailer (and a one-year supply of Bulleit Bourbon and Bulleit Rye) or simply hop into a 2013 McLaren 12C Spider, in Volcano Red, which will be sold with McLaren luggage and a business-class trip to England for a VIP dinner hosted by McLaren's chairman Ron Dennis and a tour of the McLaren Technology Center in February 2013.

Neiman Marcus is also offering a Jetlev R200 and the video portrait ''Snowy Owl'' by artist Robert Wilson who creates animals and people who appear static, as if portrayed within a painting, but the viewer is caught off guard when the subject unexpectedly breathes, blinks, or shifts.

For a culinary delight this Christmas, Neiman Marcus put together an  epic event where four  chefs -—Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Jerome Bocuse and Richard Rosendale—- will arrive at your home to prepare a feast for 10 guest and  Bertha Gonzalez, the world’s first female Maestra Tequilera, will kick off the evening with a Casa Dragones tequila tasting. 

www.diamonds.net

Return Fraud to Cost Retailers Nearly $4B Over Christmas

There are fewer U.S. retailers anticipating return fraud rates to increase this Christmas season compared with 2010, however, this issue remains a tremendous problem and accounts for roughly $3.5 billion in losses, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). According to NRF’s annual Return Fraud Survey, completed by loss prevention executives at 103 retail companies, the retail industry lost $3.73 billion in returns for Christmas 2010. Annual return fraud will cost retailers an estimated $14.37 billion in 2011, which is up 5 percent from 2010, according to the NRF.

When asked if their company has ever changed its return policy to specifically address return fraud, nearly two-thirds had. The growing problem of return fraud has forced many retailers to adopt policies, which require customers returning merchandise to show identification. Retailers have made significant progress in reducing fraudulent returns when a receipt is present, as the survey found 3 percent of returns with a receipt are fraudulent, down from 4 percent in 2010.

Of those without a receipt, retailers estimate 14 percent of those returns are fraudulent. As a result, 62 percent now require customers returning items without a receipt to show identification. Slightly more than 10 percent of retailers require customers making returns with a receipt to show ID.

Most respondents state their return policies will remain unchanged this Christmas season, on par with 2010, but slightly more will tighten their policies to combat the typical excess return fraud they see each year during the holiday season.

Joe LaRocca, the senior asset protection advisor for NRF, was optimistic given improvements made by the industry of late. ''Retailers have been putting checks and balances in place to prevent people from taking advantage of stores’ return policies, which raises prices for honest shoppers.''

According to the survey, nearly nine in 10 retailers have experienced the return of stolen merchandise in the past year, and just as many report that employee return fraud or collusion with external sources has been a problem in the past year.

Wardrobing – the return of used, non-defective merchandise like special occasion apparel and certain electronics – also poses a huge issue, as more than 61 percent say they been victims of this activity within the past year. Additionally, 81 percent say they have experienced the return of merchandise purchased on fraudulent or stolen tender, and 38.6 percent have found criminals using counterfeit receipts to return merchandise.

According to an NRF survey conducted in December 2010, 88.4 percent of U.S. consumers felt that retailers’ return policies were fair.

-Rapaport