Everything in VIOLET · Guide
Design Gifts Under $50, Sorted by Color
The under-$50 gift is the hardest one to get right, because the price bracket is full of novelty. The way out is to buy a plain object that a serious company makes well, then let the color do the work.
These six are all things I'd be happy to receive, and none of them read as cheap once they're out of the box.
The edit
Hydroponic Glass Vase · VanEnjoy
A stacked-cylinder hydroponic vase for about $13. Put a single cutting in it and it looks like something from a museum shop.
$13 — Buy on Amazon →Wide-Mouth Bottle · Nalgene
The orange Nalgene is $16 and genuinely indestructible. It's on this list because it's honest design, not because it's cheap.
$16 — Buy on Amazon →Softcover Notebook A5 · Leuchtturm1917
Leuchtturm1917's A5 in green, $22. Better paper than a Moleskine and roughly the same money.
$22 — Buy on Amazon →Rim Mug (Plum) · Kinto
Kinto porcelain in plum, $24. The handle is the part that makes it worth the money.
$24 — Buy on Amazon →No.08 Folding Knife · Opinel
The red-handled No.08 is $28 and proof that design and cheap aren't opposites. Beech and carbon steel, unchanged since 1890.
$28 — Buy on Amazon →Blackwing Volume · Blackwing
A box of Blackwing pencils at $30 is the gift for someone who writes by hand and hasn't upgraded their pencil since school.
$30 — Buy on Amazon →If you need one safe answer: the Opinel. It suits nearly everyone and costs less than lunch for two.
Every color store has its own under-$50 corner if you sort by price.
Browse the full violet collection →
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