Luxury Christmas gifts are finding buyers in Greater Victoria even though some of us are still recovering from the jitters brought on by the global financial crisis.

Bottles of French Louis Roederer Cristal champagne are being purchased as gifts, Russell Gelling, Six Mile Liquor Store manager, said yesterday. "[Sean] 'P. Diddy' Combs sings about it in rap songs. Paris Hilton always drinks it."

Along with entertainers and socialites, capital region residents will be sipping the renowned bubbly, which sells for $280 per bottle. If you want Cristal Rose, that's $600 per bottle, Gelling said.

These shoppers are likely going to surpass the average amount Canadians are expected to spend this holiday season. The 2009 holiday spending study from Scotiabank released this month said Canadians are anticipated to spend an average of $891 this year, up from $884 in 2008.

Some shoppers can't resist picking up a little something for themselves this time of year.

At Jenner Chevrolet Buick Corvette GMC, a local man drove off the lot at 1730 Island Highway Tuesday in a carbon-grey ZR1 Corvette.

"That's the best Corvette they put out," said Gordie Strongman, a sales manager at Jenner.

The new owner of the ultra-powerful sports car, which cost more than $100,000, "bought it for himself," Strongman said.

For those who prefer the sky to the road, shoppers are buying gift certificates for lessons at the Victoria Flying Club in North Saanich.

A lesson costs between $200 and $250, and some gift certificates have reached $1,000, said club office manager Shannon Tomren.

"Our biggest seller is the Discovery Flight," she said. "It's a lot of fun." For $69 (plus taxes), this gift certificate delivers an introduction and mini-lesson into flying. Participants even get a turn at flying a Cessna 152 themselves, next to an instructor in the dual-control plane.

At Trek Bicycle Store, 338 Catherine St., a local man was shopping yesterday afternoon for his father, homing in on a Trek Soho hybrid bike for $1,000, said Bill Fry, one of the owners.

Another man paid $9,000 this week for a full-suspension Trek mountain bike, to use himself, Fry said.

Here's a romantic gift for travellers: Elizabeth Smith, at Athlone Travel in Oak Bay, said one husband arranged -- in late November no less -- for an unusual gift certificate for his wife. The certificate states it is for a trip "anywhere in the world."

Smith said, "It was really, really touching."

Romantics have also been arriving at Creole Jewellery Design at 1509 Amphion St., where men have picked out rings for a Christmas Day proposal.

Eye-catching rings by designer Steven Kretchmer are particularly popular because the stones are held in place not by claws, but by the tension in the metal, said store co-owner Creole Carmichael. Prices typically start at $3,000.

There's no point talking about high-end gifts without considering the popular electronics category. At Atlas Audio and Video Unlimited, at Yates and Vancouver streets, the ultimate television is the $7,000, 60-inch plasma Pioneer Kuro Elite. "It is considered by many to be the very best television in production in the world today," said Austin Mayo, who is in sales, purchasing and marketing. "We just have one left."

The buyers? Men giving them to their families, he said.

For those wanting a 50-inch set, the price is $4,299. "The picture quality is unparalleled," Mayo said.

cjwilson@tc.canwest.com