STYLE : ARCHITECTURE : Pieces of Dreams

The word souvenir once was synonymous with tacky--salt and pepper shakers, snow domes and coffee mugs. Not anymore. Las Vegas’ new theme hotels have gone upscale, enlisting artisans from around the world to create quality keepsakes. A few small items are available for less than $10, but in the better shops, souvenirs start at about $25 and range up to several hundred dollars.

Treasure Island’s buyers traveled to Morocco to commission and purchase items for the casino’s Loot n’ Booty shop, among them chests inlaid with stone and camel bone and intricately patterned ceramic platters, bowls and pitchers. Fans of Excalibur’s medieval motifs will find copies of weaponry made in Spain, plus wizard sculptures, chess sets, even paintings and lamps at the hotel’s shops. The Mirage promotes a tropical island theme, with carved fish from Bali and South Seas totems among the wares.

Gift shops at Luxor have an assortment of finely made Egyptian items, including signed ceramic vases, hand-tooled leather boxes and handblown glass perfume bottles. Games, desk accessories, even Christmas ornaments fashioned after Nefertiti, King Tutankhamen and the Sphinx echo the theme. On Saturday, Luxor will take souvenirs one step further, when it opens a replica of Tut’s tomb as the site was discovered in 1922. The accompanying gift shop will carry copies of jewelry and other objects found in the tomb, a feat accomplished by working with the Egyptian government and Cairo’s Papyrus Institute. Hit the jackpot? Take home a replica of Tut’s throne fashioned of wood and mother-of-pearl inlay for $3,995.