Gifts for Watch Collectors: Objects Made the Way His Watches Are

The best gifts for watch collectors are almost never watches. He knows the reference he wants, the year and the dial, and nobody is going to out-research him on his own subject. What you can give him is another object built the way his watches are, and the clearest example we carry is in our Maccarrone collection: humidors inlaid by hand in Tuscany, some of them made in editions you could count on your fingers.

We are a cigar company, so our answer runs through the cigar world. That is a shorter trip than it sounds. Cigars and watches tend to live in the same drawer. Both are about time, both reward patience, and both come with objects that are finished by hand, numbered and kept for decades. A lighter with an engraved case, a cigar case in alligator, a humidor in stone and burl wood. He already speaks this language. He has simply not bought these particular pieces yet.

One thing before the picks. Not every man who collects watches smokes cigars, and most of this guide does not need him to. The first half is objects for a pocket, a cuff, a desk or a carry-on. The cigars come near the end, for the man you know enjoys one.

Gifts for watch collectors, by the detail he already cares about

Think about what he points out when he shows someone a watch. Find it in the list, and the piece beside it is our answer.

• He talks about dials and finishingS.T. Dupont Line 2 Diamond Head lighter in yellow gold, $1,595.00. The kind of engraved pattern he knows from a dial, cut into the case of a lighter.
• He listens to how a thing opens and closesEl Septimo x S.T. Dupont Alexander "Ping" lighter, $1,606.50. A limited edition named for the sound it makes.
• He has opinions about strapsBrizard and Co. Show Band three-cigar case in genuine black caiman alligator, $390.00. The leather he would choose for a dress watch, on a case lined in cedar.
• He likes a small tool that works perfectlyEl Septimo Emperor Vartan guillotine cutter, limited edition, $170.00. Two steel blades and a gold finish applied the way many watch cases are coated.
• He wears a cuff that lets the watch showS.T. Dupont square Diamond Head cufflinks, $265.00. The same faceted pattern as the lighter, at the wrist.
• His watches live in a box worth looking atMaccarrone Supersport 40 humidor, $2,795.00. Hand-inlaid wood under polished lacquer, with room for about forty cigars.
• He travels with more than one watchBrizard and Co. Havana Traveler with valuables pouch, croco pattern black, $600.00. A travel set with a three-cigar case and a pouch for the small things he does not check.
• He only buys numbered piecesOpusX "Les Chaînes de l'Amour" marquetry lighter in black, $6,500.00. One of 99, individually numbered, with its plaque and certificate.
• He has ever stopped to look at a stone dialMaccarrone Starry Night 110 humidor, $8,420.00. Obsidian and tiger's eye set by hand, in an edition of ten.

Prices are the ones on our site today. The cards below always show the live price.

Six pieces for a watch collector, from a cutter to a hand-inlaid humidor, with live prices.

Why he is easier to buy for than he looks

People who are shopping for a collector usually freeze, because the obvious present is the one thing they should not buy. But a man who collects watches has told you a lot about his taste already. He cares how an edge is finished. He cares what something is made of and who made it. He notices weight, and he likes knowing how many of a thing exist. Every one of those preferences carries over to other objects, which is why gifts for collectors work best when they come from a neighboring world instead of the one he has already mapped.

So we do not start with what he smokes. We start with what he wears. A man in a steel sports watch and a man in a thin gold dress watch want different lighters, and the sections below are sorted that way. If your list has other men on it too, our guide to luxury gifts for men, chosen by the man covers the golfer, the whiskey lover and the man with a boat.

If he reads the dial first: guilloche you can hold

Guilloche is a pattern of fine, repeating lines engraved into metal. Watch people know it from dials. S.T. Dupont, the Paris house founded in 1872, is known for cutting it into lighters, and its signature version is called Diamond Head: small raised facets that catch the light as the case turns. The Line 2 Diamond Head in yellow gold wears that pattern across its case. It is brass underneath, it lights with a soft double flame, and its cap opens with the clear ringing note the house calls the cling. Like every S.T. Dupont lighter we carry, it can be refilled and serviced, so it is kept, not replaced.

Match the metal to his watch. He almost certainly wears one color of metal more than the others, and the same lighter is on our site in pink gold at $1,595.00 and in silver at $1,395.00. The yellow gold suits the man with a gold dress watch. The silver sits better beside steel. All three sit among the more than 130 lighters from the maison in our S.T. Dupont collection.

If a lighter is more than you had in mind, the square Diamond Head cufflinks carry the same pattern in a palladium finish. They sit a few inches from the watch every time he wears a proper shirt, and they have nothing to do with cigars, which makes them the safe choice when you are not sure he smokes. For more from this house, sorted by who the present is for, see our S.T. Dupont gift guide.

If he listens for the click: the Ping and a proper cutter

Collectors talk about the sound of a crown being wound or a bezel turning the way other people talk about music. The lighter world has its own version. The El Septimo x S.T. Dupont Alexander "Ping" is a limited edition made by the two houses together, and it is tuned to ring louder and bolder than the classic cling. The body is solid brass with Diamond Head guilloche in a palladium finish. It weighs 175 grams, which he will notice the moment he picks it up, and it lights with two symmetrical soft flames. It even comes with a small screwdriver so he can change the flint himself, a detail a man who owns a strap tool will enjoy more than he admits.

The series runs to six lighters and six matching rollerball pens, and all twelve are in our El Septimo x S.T. Dupont collection. Both of the lighters above are soft flames, made for a study, a lounge or a covered terrace. If he smokes mostly outdoors, our guide to luxury cutters and lighters explains when a torch is the better tool.

At a gentler price, the piece with the most satisfying action is a cutter. The El Septimo Emperor Vartan guillotine cutter is a limited edition with two stainless steel blades that close from both sides at once. Its gold color is applied by PVD, the same family of coating used on many watch cases, and the artwork is printed in fine detail and sealed under a protective layer. It is the pick we suggest when the budget is under $200 and the present still needs to feel like an object. We carry more than two hundred other cutters, from every maker on our shelves, if he would suit a different one.

If he has opinions about straps: alligator and ostrich

Ask a watch collector about straps and clear your afternoon. The cigar case is where that taste carries over most directly. The Brizard and Co. Show Band case in genuine black caiman alligator holds three cigars and is made in the United States. The skin is real, with the bold, raised scales he will recognize at once. Inside it is lined completely in Spanish cedar, with cedar dividers that adjust and keep the case rigid. The name comes from the window cut into the front, which shows the bands of the cigars, so he can choose one without tipping them all out.

Brizard makes the case in two sizes. Standard takes three cigars up to a 48 ring, or a mix of sizes from 42 to 60. Gordo takes three thick ones, up to a 60 ring. If he smokes large cigars, ask us to confirm the size before you order. We also list the same case in genuine ostrich in several colors, at $390.00 to $420.00, and in embossed leathers for less. You can see them all, with the cutters and lighters made to match, in our Brizard and Co. collection.

For the man who is always on a plane, the Havana Traveler in croco pattern black is a travel set: a Show Band case in the Gordo size and a separate pouch for valuables, in black leather embossed with a crocodile pattern. It is the cigar equivalent of a watch roll, the thing that goes into the carry-on so nothing rattles loose in a suitcase.

If his watches live in a box: a humidor made like one

A serious collector keeps his watches in something better than the drawer. A humidor does the same job for cigars, and the best ones are furniture in miniature. Maccarrone builds its humidors by hand in a workshop in Tuscany. The decoration is marquetry: thin pieces of wood, and on some models stone, assembled by hand into a picture, then sealed under lacquer that is polished by hand until it looks like glass. The inside is Spanish cedar, the traditional wood for keeping cigars.

The Maccarrone Supersport 40 is the compact one. It comes from the Yacht Collection, holds about forty cigars and is small enough for a desk or a shelf in a dressing room. It includes a humidifier and a hygrometer, the gauge that shows the humidity inside. This is the gift for a man who already has a few good cigars and nowhere worthy of them.

Then there is the piece for the man who has stopped in front of a stone dial. The Maccarrone Starry Night 110 is a tribute to the Van Gogh painting, built from black obsidian, tiger's eye, resin, fossil wood and Madrona burl, with hardware in 24 karat gold plated brass. Maccarrone made ten of them. It holds 110 cigars, and it is the only thing on this page that might take attention away from his watches.

A word about how we stock this maker. As we write this we hold seventeen Maccarrone humidors, and eleven of them are here as a single piece. When one of those sells, that listing may not come back. If you have your eye on one, call us first. If you are still deciding what size he needs, our humidor guide starts with how many cigars he keeps.

If he only buys numbered pieces: box and papers

Every collector knows the phrase. A watch with its original box and papers is the complete thing, and a watch without them is a little less. One lighter we carry is sold the same way. The OpusX "Les Chaînes de l'Amour" marquetry lighter in black is a collaboration between four houses: Brizard and Co., S.T. Dupont, Maccarrone and Arturo Fuente. S.T. Dupont made the lighter, with its Diamond Head guilloche and hinged cap. Maccarrone made the front panel in burl walnut and tulipwood marquetry. The emblem set into the wood is Arturo Fuente's OpusX mark in 24 karat gold.

The black edition is limited to 99 pieces. Each lighter is individually numbered, and each arrives in its presentation box with a numbered plaque, a certificate and an ostrich pouch. It is a design object first and a lighter second, and it is for the man whose first question about anything is how many were made.

The same picks, by budget

• Under $300The El Septimo Emperor Vartan cutter at $170.00, or the S.T. Dupont Diamond Head cufflinks at $265.00. A small, precise object he will handle every week.
• $300 to $700The Brizard Show Band case in caiman alligator at $390.00, or the Havana Traveler at $600.00. The leather he already chooses for his straps.
• $1,300 to $1,700The S.T. Dupont Line 2 Diamond Head from $1,395.00, or the Alexander "Ping" at $1,606.50. Guilloche, weight and a sound he will know with his eyes closed.
• $2,795 and upThe Maccarrone Supersport 40 at $2,795.00, the Les Chaînes de l'Amour lighter at $6,500.00, or the Starry Night 110 at $8,420.00. Handwork, small editions and, on the lighter, a number of his own.

The cigars to hand over with it

If you know he enjoys a cigar, add a box, and choose it the way he would choose a watch: by age, by maker and by how long he has to enjoy it. Cigars and watches share that last point. A cigar is measured in time as much as in inches, and our guide to how long a cigar lasts lays out the minutes by size. These are the three we would put beside the pieces above.

The one with years on it. A collector thinks in years, so give him a cigar that has some. The Alfonso Extra Añejo No. 3 Toro Extra, box of 25, is $1,187.50. It is a 6 x 54 made in Costa Rica and aged five years on cedar and French oak before it is sold. It is mild to medium, which makes it a kind choice if you are unsure of his strength. Our note on it: aromatic cedar and toasted bread first, then something close to salted peanut, with a sweet, creamy finish.

The short one. For a weeknight, the Byron Petit Poemas 19th Century, box of 25, is $700.50. It is a 4 x 50, also from Costa Rica, medium to medium-full, and aged for several years before release. Our note: sweet cherry and cedar, then fig, raisin and warm caramel, all of it packed into a small format.

The long one. For a slow Sunday, the El Septimo King Sargon Maduro Churchill, bundle of 20, is $560.00. It is full in flavor under a dark, oily Maduro wrapper. Our note: espresso and dark cocoa up front, cracked black pepper, then aged leather and toasted oak as it settles.

We keep the Alfonso and Byron boxes in small numbers, so ask us if the box shows as sold when you look. El Septimo is the house we carry in the greatest depth, and the whole range is in our El Septimo collection. If all you know is that he likes "something smooth" or "something strong," our Cigar Finder turns that into a short list in four questions. Cigars go only to an adult you know enjoys them.

The three cigars, the travel set and the two collector's pieces, with live prices. Choose the box on each cigar's product page.

Live prices from the Maccarrone collection.

The short version

Do not buy him a watch. Buy him the object beside it. For the man who reads dials, a Line 2 Diamond Head lighter in the metal he wears, or the cufflinks in the same pattern. For the man who listens, the Alexander "Ping" or a guillotine cutter. For the strap man, a Show Band case in caiman alligator. For the man with a watch box, a Maccarrone humidor. For the man who counts editions, the Les Chaînes de l'Amour lighter, one of 99. Add a box of aged cigars if he enjoys one, keep every pouch and certificate, and tell us the date you need it.