Okay, so we’re the only leading economy still technically in recession, but don’t let that fool you, not for one Christmas-present-pickin’ moment. There’s still plenty of money around (no bonus is so last season), and it’s being spent.

Proof that the luxury market is still booming comes thick and fast. Hermès now offers, wait for it, a helicopter with a reassuringly expensive price-on-application tag. Zagliani reports no let-up in demand for its Puffy crocodile handbag, available through Matches for £9,570, while Chanel diamonds show no drop in popularity, with Harrods reporting plenty of interest in the Première 18-carat white-gold watch, which has 589 diamonds (£29,575). Cartier has just presented its largest-ever collection of unique high-end jewellery — 70 one-off designs from £250,000. Even Loro Piana can’t keep its Baby Cashmere blanket in stock (it’s woven from the first combing of the baby cashmere goat, don’t you know), even though it starts at a whopping £2,050.

One area, though, where things are truly booming is personalisation. “The term ‘luxury’ is so overused,” says the bag designer Anya Hindmarch. “But I think you can definitely say that something is luxury when it’s completely personalised.” Putting her money where her mouth is, Hindmarch recently turned one of her London ready-to-wear handbag stores into a bespoke-only arena where she offers everything from key rings at £65 to bespoke Ebury handbags in crocodile skin for £6,500. All items can be embossed with anything from initials to messages in the giver’s own handwriting (from £20). “It sets it apart,” she says. “These are things that are infused with love and meant to be treasured.”

Taking the personal touch even further is the new gift-service Bokks London: you know it must be good if the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and Dustin Hoffman are ambassadors. It was set up by two wealthy but anonymous folk who were tired of not being able to shop for everything they needed, from watches, jewellery, leather goods to fragrance, in one place with one person (and one who seems to care that you’re spending your money with them and not the cowboys next door). So, the idea was born to create a service to offer this — and more. Bokks — the name is a play on words, as gifts come in the firm’s own covetable boxes — has so far negotiated with 100 luxury brands, including Smythson, Dior, Christian Louboutin, Tag Heuer and Miller Harris, to sell their wares. Packages are tailor-made and you can enlist one of its “very personal assistants” to come up with ideas: for instance, a photography fan was given a box containing a 1950s camera and limited-edition photographic books and prints. Bokks boxes start at £250, including the Bokks-Hop delivery boy or girl in clothes designed by Neil Barrett. The only extra costs are delivery, which vary according to geography and the level of indulgence involved. For wine connoisseurs, leave your own note for them under the tree saying you’ve booked a bottle of Krug’s Clos d’Ambonnay 1996, out next year, for between £1,300 and £1,500.

Personalisation stretches to fashion, too, where a trend for luxury thrift and resurrection has taken hold. Hermès will let you order your own Constance bag from a selection of leathers and colours. The fur brand Hockley has taken vintage coats and painstakingly reworked them to create modern designs, without any more minks surrendering their lives in the process. Even the British-Brazilian design duo Clements Ribeiro has launched a range of hand-made evening dresses fashioned from vintage couture fabrics, which are all priced at £1,200. Ribeiro says: “There’s so much fashion out there right now, and though we can’t help but add more, we do feel good about recycling some beautiful things that would otherwise go to waste.” Or how about a pair of Bird of Paradise peacock-feathered bespoke shoes by Maï Lamore at £10,000?

Then there’s jewellery. The online jeweller Astley Clarke (astleyclarke.com) is offering free next-day delivery in the UK until Christmas and a personal-shopping team that will do anything, “even if that means dropping everything to take a Tahitian pearl necklace to a man in the City”, says the founder, Bec Clarke. Gift messages are individually written and packages are personally wrapped in hand-printed paper.

At the high end of the market comes the relaunched jewellery brand Fabergé, with its collection of one-off pieces; prices start at about £27,000. “It’s extremely beautifully made using exquisite materials and with attention to detail and great craftsmanship — all infused with a sense of wit and humour,” says Katharina Flohr, the creative director. She could equally be talking about its level of service. “Through our online concept, we’re giving clients the ability to choose where and when they’d like to see a piece.” The piece is taken to the customer. Even when the store opens in Geneva, Switzerland, in December, that policy won’t change. Also, the sales person a customer starts dealing with will remain with them throughout the choosing and purchasing process, to ensure the personal touch is never lost. “It’s a very tailor-made, couture and intimate approach,” says Flohr.

You could also go the bespoke-jewellery route with the cult designer Carolina Bucci, who has introduced a made-to-order service. Describe your loved one — their favourite colours, movies, paintings, tastes — and Bucci will create a custom design for them (from £5,000). Should that feel too decadent, you could salve your conscience by snapping up her limited-edition gold- or silver-plated bracelets for Global Action for Children at her boutique in London (020 7838 9977). They cost £135, with £30 going directly to the charity: that’s a bonus of an altogether different kind.

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