Welcome to the T List, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. For this edition, we’ve turned it into an engagement gift guide, with recommendations on what to get your soon-to-be-married friends. (These can double as wedding present ideas, should you dare to go off-registry.) Sign up here to find us in your inbox every Wednesday, along with monthly travel and beauty guides, and the latest stories from our print issues. And you can always reach us at [email protected].
Spice Up
Pepper Mills That Enhance Any Tabletop
A traditional approach to anniversary gifting matches a symbolic material with each milestone (crystal for 15 years, gold for 50). Why not apply that custom to engagement presents, too? The chef Julia Child, known as much for her storied marriage as for her coq au vin, might have suggested spice, in the form of a thoughtfully chosen pepper mill. (She ordered a Peugeot grinder for her first television kitchen in the 1960s; the plastic ’80s relic of hers in the National Museum of American History has a matrimonial name: PepperMate.) Collectible options include the Pepper Bird, a ’50s Danish design by Sven-Erik Tonn-Petersen, now produced by Spring Copenhagen in a combination of mahogany, walnut, maple and ash. The slanted Italic mill, by Michael Anastassiades in collaboration with the Carl Auböck workshop in Vienna, is offered in polished or patinated brass as part of the interior designer Nicole Hollis’s new namesake collection of artist-made home objects. Anastassiades says he was “fascinated with the idea of how far you could tilt an elegant cylinder before it falls over.” Semi-D’s striped grinder, created by Sabrina De Sousa, the restaurateur behind New York’s Dimes, is available in colorways that nod to the artist André Cadere’s painted-wood sculptures; the North Carolina-based designer Sam Stewart’s Ritz mill translates a humbler stack — Nabisco crackers — into translucent resin. The Montreal woodworker Elise McLauchlan launched hand-turned maple grinders with the brand Toast this year as part of its New Makers program. And a fresh batch of the designer Ryan Preciado’s Madre y Padre mills returns to Permanent Collection’s online shop next month. Crafted from scrap walnut and red oak in his Los Angeles studio, they have a kinship with Jens Quistgaard’s iconic Dansk grinders and curvilinear Matryoshka dolls. Good for white and black pepper, the set makes a charming odd couple.
— Laura Regensdorf
Precious Metal
Gifts to Encourage Happy Reflection
When I visited Stockholm over the summer, I made a daily pilgrimage to the sprawling design shop Svenskt Tenn, hoping to uncover gifts that would fit in my suitcase and also my budget. Eventually I discovered the Reflector, which looks like an oversize golden lollipop with a thin, elongated stick. I didn’t really know what it was for, but at $8, I had to have three. I later learned it was made by the Swedish designer Erika Pekkari, who has also created colorful flowerpots for Svenskt Tenn and Ikea. The Reflector can be a garden accessory or, according to Svenskt Tenn, a Christmas tree ornament. I gave one to a newly engaged friend — to reflect the love in your life, I told her. For other variations on that theme, try a many-pointed tin frame made in Mexico, or the French American designer Sophie Lou Jacobsen’s stainless steel serving tray with squiggle handles. A more literal though no less attractive interpretation is the French beauty company Violette’s Object de Réflexion, a gilded compact that can also be used as a makeup palette.
— Ella Riley-Adams
Jet Set
“Talking Plates” That Transport You to Paris
For Marin Montagut, tableware serves as a conversation starter. The 40-year old illustrator and designer recently debuted Les Assiettes Parlantes, a 12-piece line of vibrantly colored porcelain dinner and dessert dishes. Popular in 19th-century Europe, traditional assiettes parlantes (French for “talking plates”) featured a central illustration that often told a historical, political or moral story. Montagut — who started collecting the vintage decorative plates on weekend trips to the Puces de Saint-Ouen market in Paris — puts a playful modern spin on the style with black pen drawings of his signature motifs, from the Luxembourg Garden chair to the Paris night sky to the artist’s own weekend house in Normandy (which he calls “the house of happiness”). Hand-produced in saturated tones (rosy pink, verdant green and punchy yellow), this new collection is meant to be mixed and matched to reflect the personalities of the guests at the table.
— Kari Molvar
Milestone
Sapphire Earrings to Get a Head Start on “Something Blue”
When my friends get engaged, I’ve started giving them small sapphire earrings that work well as everyday layering pieces but can also, if they choose, serve as a “something blue” on their wedding day. The Brooklyn label Yé Brand’s Eros Floating Huggies reimagine the classic hoop with a contoured curve and pear-shaped stone. The Los Angeles-based designer Emily P. Wheeler’s Tilly studs pair two slightly different blue sapphires in an 18-karat gold setting. The Westchester County, N.Y., jeweler Ali Weiss also combines two jewels — a baguette-cut sapphire and a diamond — for her Precious East/West studs, as does the New York brand Wwake with its Tonal Two-Step earring featuring two round sapphires, which is made exclusively for the Brooklyn shop Catbird. Shay, the label founded by the mother-daughter duo Tanaz and Ladan Salehi, pairs a sapphire with a dangling baguette diamond for its Mini Me studs. For those who prefer one larger stone, Jade Ruzzo’s Anna Huggie nestles a nearly three-carat oval sapphire in a sculptural yellow-gold hoop. Sorellina, a Brooklyn-based brand founded by the sisters Nicole and Kim Carosella, sells the vintage-inspired Totem studs, which group five differently shaped gems in a vertical line. FoundRae’s aptly named Forever & Always a Pair earrings include six sapphires embedded in a gold hoop, while Van Cleef & Arpels’ oceanic Ondulations Marine earrings feature deep blue gems in a sea shell-inspired spiral shape.
— Jaclyn Bloomfield
Going Wild
Accessories for Nature Lovers
When I got engaged last summer, it was on a canoe camping trip in the Adirondacks. My honeymoon will hopefully involve a hike or two. In other words, I’d gladly welcome any gift that’s geared toward outdoor adventuring. To like-minded friends — those who seem likely to trek through mud (whether in their local marshlands or at Glastonbury) — consider giving matching pairs of packable rain boots by the Japanese company Pokeboo. Originally designed for rice farmers, they’re made of natural rubber with a nylon lining and pack down to the size of a water bottle. Ski fans will appreciate a two-pack of tall socks from Comme Si: Made in Italy of merino wool, they come in punchy, contrasting colors. If swimming and surfing is more their style, the Berlin-based company Towel Studios sells surf ponchos in an array of bold prints, while the Copenhagen brand Tekla has striped organic-cotton beach towels. Or, to offer both home décor and inspiration for their next foray, try a vintage nature guide to wildflowers or fungi.
— Aemilia Madden
Party Supplies
Platters for Festive Occasions
Equip the newlyweds-to-be with their own celebration-worthy serving pieces. The New York-based artist Cassie Griffin molds each of her Cesse ceramic platters individually, then finishes them with hand-painted details and bright glazes to make an eye-catching tabletop centerpiece. For those who take pleasure in a well-styled charcuterie board, the stoneware Dreamer platters from Wheel House Pottery offer abstract guidelines with free-form dips that are perfect for holding jams, nuts or cheeses. The Oyster platter from Rex Design also has a particular purpose, with playfully painted indentations in the shape of bivalves (and a center spot for mignonette). The Spanish homewares company Vaisselle’s vintage-inspired floral plate would pair well with a lace-edged tablecloth, while the Bulgarian brand Pottery & Poetry’s porcelain serving tray, with its irregular edges and calming color palette, might be just the thing for a more minimalist-minded couple.
— Mackenzie Oster
From T’s Instagram
In Brooklyn, a Feast of Seven Salads and Two Tofu Cheesecakes
The post What Do You Give Someone Who’s Just Gotten Engaged? appeared first on New York Times.
