Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour set
Winsor & Newton · Books & hobbies
Real pigment at a beginner price, in a tin that doubles as a palette.
4.4$45
The archive
All 31 reviews
Every gift here was bought at full price and used for months before anything was written about it. Each review carries the same five scores, the name of whoever tested it, and how long they lived with it. Nothing is removed from this archive when a score goes down — the follow-up is added instead.
Ranked
Every review, best score first
Scores are out of five and are the average of the five sub-scores on each review. A low score is not a warning to stay away — read the verdict, because some of our favourite gifts score badly on paper.
| Gift | Category | Score | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A recipe keepsake journalVarious — sewn binding, provenance prompts | Keepsakes | 4.6 | $40 |
| Lodge enamelled cast iron Dutch ovenLodge | Kitchen | 4.6 | $70 |
| Kobo Clara BWRakuten Kobo | Tech | 4.5 | $130 |
| Quince Merino Wool & Cashmere ThrowQuince | Home & comfort | 4.5 | $130 |
| Johnstons of Elgin cashmere wrapJohnstons of Elgin | Home & comfort | 4.5 | $250 |
| Abco Tech Garden Kneeler and SeatAbco Tech | Garden | 4.4 | $45 |
| Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour setWinsor & Newton | Books & hobbies | 4.4 | $45 |
| Kindle PaperwhiteAmazon | Tech | 4.4 | $149 |
| Aura CarverAura | Keepsakes | 4.4 | $179 |
| A solid wood chess setVarious — solid wood, weighted pieces | Books & hobbies | 4.4 | $180 |
| Le Creuset Signature Dutch ovenLe Creuset | Kitchen | 4.4 | $400 |
| Bose QuietComfort UltraBose | Tech | 4.4 | $429 |
| Sony WH-1000XM6Sony | Tech | 4.4 | $449 |
| A refillable leather journalVarious — buy full-grain, check refills | Books & hobbies | 4.3 | $65 |
| Skylight FrameSkylight | Keepsakes | 4.3 | $140 |
| Breville BambinoBreville | Kitchen | 4.3 | $300 |
| A heated foot warmerVarious — check for auto shut-off | Wellbeing | 4.2 | $75 |
| Parachute Waffle RobeParachute | Home & comfort | 4.2 | $99 |
| Book of the MonthBook of the Month | Books & hobbies | 4.2 | $120 |
| A birthstone pendantVarious — buy solid metal, prong-set | Jewellery | 4.2 | $130 |
| Bird BuddyBird Buddy | Garden | 4.2 | $199 |
| Netvue Birdfy camera feederNetvue | Garden | 4.2 | $200 |
| LifePagesLifePages | Keepsakes | 4.1 | $56 |
| A custom map printMapiful, Grafomap and similar | Keepsakes | 4.1 | $70 |
| Hyperice Hypervolt 3Hyperice | Wellbeing | 4.1 | $299 |
| A decanter and glass setVarious — check the stopper seals | Home & comfort | 4.0 | $110 |
| Nespresso Vertuo Pop+Nespresso | Kitchen | 4.0 | $130 |
| Anker Soundcore earbudsAnker | Tech | 3.9 | $80 |
| Gravity Weighted BlanketGravity | Wellbeing | 3.9 | $125 |
| Click & Grow Smart Garden 9Click & Grow | Garden | 3.9 | $199 |
| BlissLights Sky LiteBlissLights | Home & comfort | 3.5 | $65 |
By budget
If you have a number in mind
Under $50
3 reviewed
$50 – $150
17 reviewed
Books & hobbies
A solid wood chess set
Various — solid wood, weighted pieces · Books & hobbies
Furniture as much as a game — and a board left out on a table is a board that gets played on.
4.4$180
A refillable leather journal
Various — buy full-grain, check refills · Books & hobbies
Refillable, so it does not become a beautiful object nobody dares write in.
4.3$65
Book of the Month
Book of the Month · Books & hobbies
A gift that arrives repeatedly, chosen by people rather than an algorithm.
4.2$120
Garden
Abco Tech Garden Kneeler and Seat
Abco Tech · Garden
Flips from a padded kneeler to a seat with arms to push up from. Unromantic, and it adds years of gardening.
4.4$45
Bird Buddy
Bird Buddy · Garden
The better app of the camera feeders, with a subscription that can outgrow the hardware.
4.2$199
Netvue Birdfy camera feeder
Netvue · Garden
A camera feeder that names the bird and sends the photo — with a lifetime subscription option that ends the running cost.
4.2$200
Click & Grow Smart Garden 9
Click & Grow · Garden
Basil in February, at a running cost the box does not mention.
3.9$199
Home & comfort
Quince Merino Wool & Cashmere Throw
Quince · Home & comfort
Merino and cashmere at roughly a third of what the Scottish mills charge for the same blend.
4.5$130
Johnstons of Elgin cashmere wrap
Johnstons of Elgin · Home & comfort
Scottish-milled cashmere, and the best unwrapping moment of anything in this archive.
4.5$250
Parachute Waffle Robe
Parachute · Home & comfort
A hotel robe that dries overnight and does not swallow the wearer.
4.2$99
A decanter and glass set
Various — check the stopper seals · Home & comfort
The best box you will open all year, wrapped around glassware that has one job.
4.0$110
BlissLights Sky Lite
BlissLights · Home & comfort
A wonderful thirty minutes, then a shelf. We list it so you know what you are buying.
3.5$65
Jewellery
Keepsakes
A recipe keepsake journal
Various — sewn binding, provenance prompts · Keepsakes
The cheapest thing on this site and the one most likely to be kept for fifty years.
4.6$40
Aura Carver
Aura · Keepsakes
The sharpest screen in the category, in a frame that reads as furniture rather than a gadget.
4.4$179
Skylight Frame
Skylight · Keepsakes
The digital frame that keeps working when the wifi does not — which matters more than the resolution.
4.3$140
LifePages
LifePages · Keepsakes
A life-story service: fifty guided questions, answered at whatever pace suits, printed as a hardback.
4.1$56
A custom map print
Mapiful, Grafomap and similar · Keepsakes
Personalised without looking personalised, if you avoid the bundled frame.
4.1$70
Kitchen
Lodge enamelled cast iron Dutch oven
Lodge · Kitchen
Cooks within a hair of pots five times the price, and you will not baby it.
4.6$70
Le Creuset Signature Dutch oven
Le Creuset · Kitchen
The one that gets inherited, at five times the price of a pot that cooks almost identically.
4.4$400
Breville Bambino
Breville · Kitchen
Real espresso from a small footprint, and incomplete without a grinder nobody mentions.
4.3$300
Nespresso Vertuo Pop+
Nespresso · Kitchen
Zero learning curve and consistent coffee, at more than three times the per-cup cost of beans.
4.0$130
Tech
Kobo Clara BW
Rakuten Kobo · Tech
The e-reader to buy for a library user, with no advertisements at any price.
4.5$130
Kindle Paperwhite
Amazon · Tech
The bigger page and the longer battery, with advertisements you should pay to remove.
4.4$149
Bose QuietComfort Ultra
Bose · Tech
The more comfortable of the two flagships, and the right one for glasses or hearing aids.
4.4$429
Sony WH-1000XM6
Sony · Tech
Forty hours of battery and the best noise cancelling on the market — and it folds again.
4.4$449
Anker Soundcore earbuds
Anker · Tech
Good earbuds for the money, and the wrong shape of gift for anyone over about sixty.
3.9$80
Wellbeing
A heated foot warmer
Various — check for auto shut-off · Wellbeing
Looks like a medical appliance, gets used every evening from October to March.
4.2$75
Hyperice Hypervolt 3
Hyperice · Wellbeing
Quieter and lighter than the Theragun, and cheaper at every tier.
4.1$299
Gravity Weighted Blanket
Gravity · Wellbeing
The category benchmark, and still not a gift to give as a surprise.
3.9$125