I’m a luxury gift buyer for billionaires & Royals – my most over-the-top requests, a Birkin flew with its own security
FORGET candy and flowers — when it comes to buying Valentine's Day gifts for billionaires and Royals, bigger is better. A lot bigger.
Nicole Pollard Bayme, founder of the luxury full-service fashion management and personal shopping firm Lalaluxe, sources one-of-a-kind items and experiences for the stars.
Her clientele list also includes world leaders, sports team owners, Silicon Valley CEOs, those on the Forbes top 10 list, and a who's who of the philanthropy, art, and business worlds.
Pleasing high-profile clients sometimes involves international travel and going to extreme measures for extra costly cargo.
"I once flew a Himalayan crocodile Hermes Birkin bag covered in eight karats of diamonds on a jet with its own security detail," Pollard Bayme told The U.S. Sun.
"It was made from the underbelly of the crocodile and is created in a different area of the Hermes factory that never sees other dyes so nothing touches it," she said.
If there's one thing Pollard Bayme and her team specialize in, it's last-minute luxury.
"I have sent assistants to cross state lines when I knew a FedEx wasn't going to make the magic happen in time," she said.
After creating a fully curated fashion look including a dress along with matching bag and shoes for a client's wife, everything was going flawlessly — except for the fit.
"The husband had no idea what his wife's size was and it wasn't accurate, so we immediately had to fly out our tailor who works with the actors for the Academy Awards.
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"He let out the seam of her dress so that it would fit her in time for date night on Valentine's Day."
For those who want diamonds — or anything designer — Nicole always delivers.
"We have an international network of dealers and jewelers so we are able to source pieces like Hermes bags, sold-out Rolex watches, and the hottest new Chanel bag all very quickly and get them to clients.
"It typically takes some time to make the pieces but if someone wants to change a stone in a piece of jewelry, we get it done hours before Valentine's Day."
Typically in that world, they say 'I need this' and we produce.
Nicole Pollard
In her experience, the holiday of love has been a mostly male-to-female recipient model with many men leaving gifting until just days or less before the holiday arrives.
"This leads to a lot of scrambling, but that's what we live for and what we're about because we deliver everything as soon as possible.
"Typically in that world, they say 'I need this' and we produce.
"That includes a black Birkin with gold hardware a week before Valentine's Day.
"It's something you can't get in store and it would be completely sold out anyway since classic colors are the most requested.
"They know they can trust us to find pieces within 24 hours' notice."
Love might not cost a thing, but Pollard Bayme's high-net-worth clients are certainly dishing out the dough on designer items.
I once sent a top-tier fashion designer to Paris for a royal client to design her wedding dress with less than 24 hours' notice.
Nicole Pollard
She recalled how a buyer once splashed out over $800,000 on a bracelet from Cartier for his wife delivered with red and white balloons.
Nicole is also seeing a trend of women buying Galentine's gifts for themselves and their friends.
"I work with powerful world leaders who are women and they'll treat themselves and the ladies in their lives to private jet experiences or designer bags with their names engraved on them.
"I see a lot of self-love going on, I think it's a beautiful moment."
And for her clients, lavish gift gifting isn't limited to just one day a year.
She once snapped her fingers and had the Chanel store in Beverly Hills shut down on New Year's Day for a visiting Royal family.
Still, that doesn't mean that things don't sometimes go royally wrong.
"I once sent a top-tier fashion designer to Paris for a Royal client to design her wedding dress with less than 24 hours' notice with a whole bunch of dresses in tow.
"When she got there, the bride-to-be ended up already having another gown made and gave one of the designer's gowns to her assistants."
She also selects finds from the front row of Fashion Week.
"I just came back from Paris Fashion Week and have been working on selecting several gowns."
Her newest expensive experience even includes creating a one-of-a-kind haute couture style with a top design house in Paris such as Dior or Schiaparelli.
For price points in the six figures, you can have your own unique fashion.
It's certainly a far cry from when Pollard Bayme first started her business behind the desk of a preschool class.
might not be able to buy you happiness but it seems it can offer mindfulness.
The gift buyer is currently working with political leaders on honing their manifesting power by helping them to align their energy with who they are in their soul.
"I believe energy manifests into form and that starts with their style," she said.
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Getting balanced will cost a cool $250 to $500,000.
The majority of Pollard Bayme's business is now conducted in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and other faraway places.
