Custom Department: 10 Unique Gift Ideas for the Hard to Shop For

Mention the word bespoke and it may conjure an old-fashioned image of Savile Row’s tailoring ateliers and elegant affairs with formal dress codes. (See our list of the best bespoke tailors in the world here.) Today, though, many brands are adopting a host of custom approaches to help broaden and deepen the calibre of their au courant offerings—see, for example, Frette’s bespoke service to produce customized one-offs among its linens collection or Gabriela Hearst’s just-launched Tailored Bespoke program, where clients can personalize a dozen different men’s and women’s designs. 

In fact, you can upgrade an array of everyday items this way, opting to partner with an artisan to develop, design, and produce something that’s uniquely personalized. We’ve scoured the world for the best in class among those ateliers, to offer the ultimate bespoke gift guide. 

Espresso Machine

A trained furniture maker, Daniel Schonknecht decided to deploy his design skills 10 years ago to launch Melbourne-based Specht, which produces limited-edition and one-off espresso machines. Now, among a certain cabal of coffee obsessives, he is renowned worldwide—70 percent of his business is international. One client shipped him a hunk of marble from the Netherlands so he could use it in a custom machine that would match a kitchen renovation. Typically, he and his team start with a standard, high-end machine from La Marzocco as a base. “They’re so adaptable; they have an effortless style,” he raves. From there, Specht will produce and add bespoke details, like the paddle of the brew heater or the steam knobs, as well as electroplate metal elements in a custom finish, a process that usually takes around six months. He’s hoping to soon establish his own metal shop where he can start from scratch, even building custom bodies for machines. “These are no different [from] sports cars,” he says. “It’s the same kind of obsession.

Knife

Tom Kerridge. Jamie Oliver. Margot Henderson. They’re all chefs at the cutting edge of cooking thanks to military veteran turned knifemaker Laurie Timpson, the owner of Savernake. Timpson’s signature concave blade knives are made to order in a former sawmill in England’s New Forest, where he lives off-grid with his family.  

Tiles

If you fancy a subversively witty design detail, consider a custom Delft tile from Connecticut-based artist Katherine Verdickt, who stumbled into this niche after buying and renovating a Dutch Colonial home. At first glance, her blue-and-white designs seem like any classic Dutch-made tile, but look closer and you’ll find, for example, a pigeon or trash bags depicted in the examples she made for a New York City-centric project.  

Home Fragrance

After a Hollywood A-lister relocated to London, perfumer Azzi Glasser helped him feel more at home, suffusing his new, four-floor residence in Britain with the same custom scent that wafts through his house back in America. Known for her perfumes—she has crafted fragrances for Jude Law and Helena Bonham Carter to help them embody characters on-screen—Glasser carved out an additional niche in home fragrance, helping country-hopping clients make their homes smell both distinctive and instantly familiar, wherever they might be. Come to her atelier to do the same, or she’ll happily fly out to work on location. 

Coat of Arms

The best gift for any Game of Thrones or Harry Potter fanatic? A custom insignia, courtesy of Downey & Co. The London-based specialist printer will task its designers with personalizing that insignia with meaningful details, whether dogs or circuit boards—or even a rocket, as commissioned by Jeff Bezos. Once the artwork and engraving tools are produced, you can stamp that crest on anything, from stationery to the hood of your car. 

Guitar

If you’re keen to score a handmade, custom guitar from London-based luthier Daisy Tempest, join the waiting list now: she can produce around eight such instruments annually, as every guitar requires between 300 and 400 hours of work, which means she’s already booked for the next six years. Her signature is exceptional materials, whether Honduran mahogany or striped Tasmanian tiger myrtle, and each guitar comes with its own storybook, filled with photos she takes as she builds it piece by piece.  

Ornament

Handmade, mouth-blown glass Christmas ornaments have been a Polish tradition for centuries, so it’s fitting that designer Michael Peterson named his company Bombki, or “ornaments” in Polish. The London-based firm is acclaimed for its intricate and witty designs, each of which is clay-prototyped before being put into production, be it a miniature London taxi or a set of portraits of the wives of Henry VIII. Peterson and his wife, Zaneta, also accept bespoke commissions for such baubles and will apply their whimsical, technical know-how to nearly any challenge. The minimum order is 100, meaning that every tree in each of your homes can have the same ultra-personal décor. 

Perfume

A bespoke fragrance is discreet, personal, exquisitely crafted over months, and known only to you and those fortunate enough to catch a hint. At Krigler, founded by Albert Krigler in 1904, the process involves a series of consultations (including scent discovery and ingredient selection), plus blending, aging, and specialized packaging. Atelier perfumery services are available at House of Krigler boutiques within Four Seasons properties in Houston; Washington, D.C.; Palm Beach, Florida; Beverly Hills, California; and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France.  

Watch

At Vacheron Constantin, an entire department, Les Cabinotiers, creates bespoke watches for high-level collectors, as well as record-breaking designs like the new Solaria Ultra Grand Complication–La Première (pictured). Revealed in March after eight years of R & D, the timepiece set a record for the most complications, 41, ever featured in a wristwatch. Not a bad way to celebrate the house’s 270th anniversary. —Degen Pener 

Bicycle

Britain was once one of the world’s bike-making hubs, thanks to firms like Raleigh, before the industry imploded due to overseas outsourcing. Still, a few holdovers persist, including Derby, England–based Mercian, which started as a bike shop in the 1940s before expanding into manufacturing. It was teetering on insolvency last year before four avid cyclists rescued it and rebooted the company for a contemporary audience. Come to them for a custom-fit frame, engineered to offer minimum impact on your body and maximum comfort, plus details like name engravings. The only thing they can’t do is improve how you look in skintight Day-Glo Lycra.