The 2026 Gift Edit · 8 objects
Eight objects for people who are hard to buy for. Each one comes with who it's for and who should skip it.
We earn a commission if you buy through these links. It never changes your price, and it never changes the pick.
Opinel · About $23
A French folding knife whose story starts in 1890, for about the price of lunch.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForSomeone who cooks outdoors, packs a proper picnic, or would rather own one good tool than a drawer of gadgets.
Skip ifThey want something that survives the dishwasher. The wooden handle won't. Check local carry laws, too.
Braun · About $30
A bedside clock with one job, drawn from a Braun design of the late 1980s and barely touched since.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForSomeone trying to get the phone out of the bedroom.
Skip ifThey need a big glowing display, or a snooze button. This one is small and analogue. The BC02X version adds snooze and a backlight.
Chemex · About $50
Glass, wood and a leather tie since 1941. Still the handsomest way to make coffee for two.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForThe person who makes the coffee for someone else every morning.
Skip ifThey want coffee at the press of a button, or they won't add a kettle and a grinder. It needs both to shine.
Alessi · Philippe Starck · About $150
The most argued-about lemon squeezer ever made. Alessi calls it surprisingly functional. The argument is the gift.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForSomeone with an eye for design who'll put it on a shelf and tell the story to everyone who asks.
Skip ifThey want juice without a production. It has no strainer and no cup; you hold a glass underneath. Buy them a lever press instead.
Fellow · About $180
A kettle that heats to the degree you set, holds it there, and pours slowly enough to be precise.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForThe pour-over person, the green-tea person, and anyone who has said "just off the boil" out loud.
Skip ifThey want a big kettle for a family. It holds 0.9 litres.
Lamy · About $279
Designed in 1966 and still in production. It's the pen that looks least like a fountain pen.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForSomeone who writes by hand every day and would never carry anything showy.
Skip ifThey've never used a fountain pen and don't want bottled ink. It fills by piston, from a bottle.
Audio-Technica · About $400
The record player for someone who's ready to stop buying the suitcase kind.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForA newer vinyl listener who wants a proper deck, or anyone who wants to copy their records to a computer.
Skip ifThey don't own speakers. It needs powered speakers, or an amplifier and passive speakers, and this model has no Bluetooth.
Seiko · $550 list
A Japanese automatic from Seiko's Cocktail Time series, with a dial worth looking at twice.
Commission link. Your price is the same.
ForThe person who mixes a proper drink at six and wants a watch to go with it.
Skip ifThey want a watch that keeps running in a drawer. It winds as it's worn and stops after about 41 hours off the wrist.