A Tub That Is Forever

The costliest Christmas gift being offered this year may be a bathtub. The old-fashioned oval model is priced by Sakowitz, the Houston department store, at $118,335,000 (sales tax extra). But then, the tub is forever: it is filled with diamonds--enough, the holiday catalogue promises, "to cover an average female adult up to the neck."

In its first bodacious attempt to out-Neiman Marcus, Sakowitz last year offered a pricey choice of lessons from top pros in just about every sport or hobby the loved one might care to cultivate. But such instructional experiences as a day's guitar lessons with Jose Feliciano ($14,500) found no takers. Obviously the price was too low or the gift too evanescent, so this year's catalogue is more hardware-oriented. A French "wine chateau," for example, is going begging for $875,000. Another tempting bauble is a 63-acre Caribbean island 25 miles south of Miami, priced at $2,250,000. The buyer may charge the island to his Sakowitz credit card.

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