In all our talk today of paper cards vs. e-cards, there is one demographic that not only wouldn’t dream of skimping on paper cards, they wouldn’t dream of spending less than $100 per piece. We have now, of course, entered the land of the well-off, the well-healed, the (pardon the expression) wealthy. And the wealthy, as this Women’s Wear Daily piece reveals, know the value of an exquisitely printed Christmas card.
While the tone of the piece is hard to pin down – is the author being informative, ironic, or a stealthy combination of the two? – the details are extremely interesting. Here is a taste:
“The more colors that are featured close together—it’s called close registration, and it requires several separate dies—the more expensive. If you see a house portrait or a family crest in three or four colors engraved into a card, know that the dies alone for the image cost about $5,000.”
And in case you’re wondering what the total outlay for a billionaire’s Christmas card might be, the author dutifully gives us what we want:
- Total staff: 50 people
- Total hours of labor: 500
- Cost per piece, including fabrication and calligraphy: $125 each
- Total cost: $87,500.
Indeed, the only thing missing is an image of one of these impressive cards, the descriptions of which merely hang around in our minds growing lovelier by the moment. If anyone has a photograph of a $100-plus Christmas card, do please send it our way.
