The 50 Best Christmas Gifts For Men

2. Molton Brown “Soul” Gift Pack
Molton Brown sources its distinctive natural ingredients from every corner of the globe, and it packages the resulting sophisticated scents and skincare products in beautifully presented gifts sets. This year’s Soul collection will really put a shine on your chap’s grooming routine. It includes a recharging bodywash boasting the classy black pepper scent, a bottle of the ultralight bai-ji hydrator, to revitalise skin after shaving, and another of the papain daily facial wash.
Where: www.moltonbrown.co.uk
How much: £49 

3. “Week In Week Out”
Simon Hopkinson, the Independent’s former food writer, recently published this collection of 52 of his columns, each with a seasonal theme to guide a skilled amateur chef through the year’s freshest foods, from winter warmers like braised pheasant, to the strawberry fields of summer. Hopkinson always takes specific seasonal ingredients as a starting point for his recipes, which fall somewhere between the soulful simplicity of a Nigel Slater and the rather more rarefied palate of a Gordon Ramsay.
Where: www.amazon.co.uk
How much: £20

4. Rally Driving Day
Possibly the most fun a boy can have on four wheels, a rally driving day certainly beats Scalextric. ThePhil Price Rally School in the Welsh Hills was recommended by World Rally Championships driver Guy Wilks. The school offers a number of different packages, but for beginners, the oneday intense course is unbeatable. He’ll get a chance to throw a Subaru Impreza round the track before strapping into the passenger seat and seeing how it’s really done by a pro driver.
Where: Phil Price Rally School (www.philprice.co.uk)
How much: £285 for the one-day intense course

5. Richard Young
Limited-Edition Print Arare treat for any pop-culture sponge, these limited-edition prints of partygoers by one of the UK’s foremost celebrity photographers are only on sale until January. There are just 150 of each available. A paparazzo before it became a dirty word, Richard Young’s CV also includes photographing Castro in Cuba and US troops in Iraq, but the images in this collection are of celebrities in the Seventies and Eighties, including Mick Jagger, Debbie Harry and Grace Jones.
Where: www.richardyoungonline.com
How much: £200 each or £1,000 for six

6. iPhone
I hardly need remind you that the iPhone exists, or that it’s the year’s must-have gadget. But despite dissatisfaction at the hype and the financial commitment it entails, the iPhone is, nonetheless, a beautiful piece of kit, with YouTube, Google and iTunes built in alongside all the hi-tech wizardry you’ve come to expect from a mobile. In the States, the price of the iPhone was slashed after a few months, so you may want to pretend they were sold out until the January sales.
Where: www.apple.com/ukstore
How much: £269, plus the O2 tariff, which starts at £35 a month

7. K-Swiss Ariake
The year’s coolest trainer is the Ariake from K-Swiss, one of the world’s first free-running shoes. Designed specifically to enhance the performance of practitioners of Parkour, it’s named after a district in Tokyo famed for its free-runner-friendly architecture, and endorsed by Sébastian Foucan, the Parkour pioneer best known for his explosive cameo in last year’s Bond movie, Casino Royale. Of course, you don’t necessarily have to be the kind of chap who jumps across rooftops at the weekend to wear them.
Where: JD Sports (www.jdsports.co.uk)
How much: £69.99

8. Pantone Mug
A new design icon for teatime. Pantone, the people who make the colour charts to help you decide which shade of red you’re going to paint the bedroom, have branched out into chinaware with these multicoloured mugs. There appear to be only 10 shades available so far,which you can buy individually or as a set. Let’s hope they produce a set of tea-coloured mugs to match his preferred tea/milk strength.
Where: Microzine (www.microzine.co.uk)
How much: £7.95 each; £75 for the full set of 10

9. PicoZ Sky Challenger Battle Pack
This pair of palm-sized remote control helicopters don’t just fly, they dogfight. Each is equipped with an infrared laser to fire at its opponent, sending them into a death spin if they hit their mark. Your man-child will need a reasonably large room or enclosed garden inwhich to learn to control the copters’ slightly erratic steering, and enthusiastic pilots may have to find replacements by the end of January – they are only a little bit more robust than they appear. But while the novelty lasts, they’re utterly wonderful.
Where: Firebox (www.firebox.com)
How much: £49.95

10. This Is Shane Meadows
One of the UK’s most acclaimed young film directors now has this four-DVD boxset to his name– a collector’s edition for fans, and an introduction for newcomers. Meadows is famous for his use of non-actors and improvisation workshops, as well as being the best director of children around. The films include last year’s acclaimed This IsEngland, Staffordshire Western Dead Man’s Shoes and the wonderful A Room for Romeo Brass,which boasts actor Paddy Considine’s first ever performance (and a barnstormer it is, too).
Where: Play.com
How much: £24.99

11. Home Cinema
The Panasonic SC-PT850EB-K Tower Speaker Home Cinema System makes for quite a mouthful, but he’ll be pleased you got thewords out when it arrives. This 1000w speaker system also has a DVD player component that up-converts standard-definition pictures to almost (but not quite) HD quality. Probably best enjoyed in conjunction with a high-definition plasma TV, this could, nonetheless, plug into a diminutive 12-inch telly and still blow his socks (and his neighbour’s socks) off.
Where: Play.com
How much; £349.99

12. Men Science Travel Kit
Self-styled apothecary Space NK has a wide range of high-end gift sets for Christmas, including this comprehensive travel kit by the nerdy-sounding (but suitably manly) Men- Science. Designed to contend with almost any airport security requirements, the compact, waterproof travel bag contains mini versions of seven of their fragrance-free skincare products, ear plugs and a sleep mask for the flight, and even the requisite zip-lock plastic bag to get the essentials through security.
Where: Space NK (www.spacenk.com)
How much: £78 

13. Nespresso Latissima
Thanks toNespresso, coffee may never be the same again. The coffee connoisseurs in my office turned their noses up at the thought of a maker that produces espresso from little plastic pods, but were soon converted – as were the management of many of London’s top restaurants. The Latissima makes espressos, frappes and lattes with your choice of strength (you can order replacement pods from the website). When you buy a machine you also get membership of the Nespresso club.
Where: www.nespresso.com
How much: £249

14. R2-D2 DVD Projector
The ultimate gift for any Star Wars fan is this multimedia machine in the shape of R2-D2 (who was a much-loved droid character from the sci-fi fantasy epics, ladies). The 80-inch DVDprojector is the perfect way for your man towatch those special-edition Star Wars movies, and there’s also an inbuilt iPod dock and speakers. To top it off, the remote control is mounted on a scale replica of the Millennium Falcon (that’s the spaceship that Harrison Ford piloted. Yes, in Star Wars.)
Where: www.play.com
How much; £1,999.99 

15. “Imperial Life in the Emerald City”
Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s universally lauded account of life inside Baghdad’s Green Zone won this year’s Samuel Johnson Prize for nonfiction. It’s a classic piece of reportage describing the surreal nature of life in the protected bubble of the Green Zone, with its nightclubs, swimming pools and pork on every menu, and an examination of the American coalition’s jaw-dropping idiocy and incompetence. Required bedside table reading for any man with even a passing interest in current affairs.
Where: www.amazon.co.uk
How much: £8.99 

16. Nike+ iPod Sport Kit
This cheap but effective little piece of technology could revolutionise your man’s exercise regime when he wants to shed those Christmaspounds. A chip that fits in almost any Nike trainer speaks wirelessly to a plug-in for the iPod nano. He can pound the pavement in time to his favourite tunes, while the Nike+ records how far and how fast he’s running. When he gets home, he can plug the nano back into the Nike+ website, which will design an exercise programme and keep a log of his progress.
Where: store.nike.com
How much: Nike+ Sport Kit £20 (then you’ve got to buy the trainers)

17. Acqua di Parma Deluxe Shaving Set
You’ll want to make sure he’s a wet shaver before you splash out on this rather lovely set of luxury shaving equipment from the elegant Acqua di Parma range. The razor and brush handles are made of exotic wenge wood, the stand is burnished brass, and the brush itself is made from real-life badgers. Altogether, it’s a perfectly weighted, extremely posh set-up that most bathroom cabinets don’t deserve. Luckily for him, however, it fits bog standard Gillette razors.
Where: www.brummellsoflondon.com
How much: £330 

18. Quintessentially Wine Total Entertainment Case
Quintessentially Wine provides a great gift for those getting a taste for grapes. The selection of Burgundys, Bordeauxs, Sancerres and champagnes in the Total Entertainment case have been chosen by personal buyer Matthew Jukes, who also provides tasting notes. The case is delivered to your door, along with a life membership of the bespoke wine club, offering wine tastings and private dinners as well as the exclusive bottles themselves.
Where: Quintessentially Wine (0870 850 8585, www.quintessentiallywine.com)
How much: £225

19. Natural Wood Bedlam Cube
First seen on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den, this mind-bending descendant of the Rubik’s Cube is amajor time-waster. The object is simple: put the pieces back together to make a perfect cube, rather like 3-D Tetris. The original plastic model has been joined by this upmarket wooden cube for the sophisticated executive toy market. My colleagues tired of the clatter ofwooden pieces on my desk as I wrestled with the puzzle. Eventually, one of them found the solution on the internet and did it for me.
Where: www.bedlampuzzles.com
How much: £23

20. “On Purpose”
As a gift for men of a literary bent who also like to get down with the kids, Nick Laird’s latest collection of poems is a safe bet. Laird is one of the bright young things of British poetry (though he’s actually from Northern Ireland), and his novel Utterly Monkeywas a hit a couple of years ago, too. His glamour quotient is raised by being Zadie Smith’s old man, and On Purpose demonstrates that Laird’s poetry, at least, is equal to his wife’s prose in its skilled dissection of human relationships.
Where: www.amazon.co.uk
How much: £5.99

21. Shure SE-310 Sound Isolating Earphones
For the dedicated muso tech-junkie, or indeed an actual musician at whatever level, Shure produces the only in-ear phones worth the listen. The company started out making professional studio equipment, only recently shifting into the consumer market. This set of earphones, based on the monitors worn onstage by pros, have tiny individual tweeters and woofers to give their sound unmatched definition. There are cheaper models in the same range for well under £100.
Where: www.amazon.co.uk
How much: £169.99

22. Brooks Bros Pyjamas
If you absolutely can’t think of anything more imaginative than a new set of pyjamas for your man this Christmas, at least splash out on the best. Brooks Bros are the men who dressed Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, Clark Gable and Errol Flynn. They’ve also tailored suits for every US president since Lincoln, though that may not be such a glowing endorsement just now. These blue fellows in crisp cotton with navy piping are so good, he’ll be tempted to wear them to work.
Where: Brooks Bros (0203 238 0030)
How much: £69

23. Marco Pierre White Pan Set
The original bad boy chef has launched his own range of cookwear for Russell Hobbs, and any man who gets a little bit hot under the collar in the kitchen will no doubt feel more confident in their culinary mastery with White’s gear. The cookwear is the first in the world to eschew the environmentally dodgy PTFE (a non-stick substance) in favour of the greener Thermolon technology.
Where: Russell Hobbs (0845 658 9700; www.russellhobbs.co.uk/marco)
How much: £179.99

24. Dead Fred Pen Holder
For men who appreciate a bit of black humour, the Dead Fred pen holder is a great stocking filler. A soft red rubber body that lies prostate on your desk, Fred has a gaping wound in his chestwhere your pen can find a home. If you want to complement Dead Fred with another comic, stationery-related gift, I Want One Of Those also stocks the charming 'Cat's Arse Pencil Sharpener’. If you need your pencil sharpened, you know where to stick it.
Where: I Want One Of Those (www.iwoot.com)
How much: £7.49

25. DNA Ancestry Test
The modern version of the family tree, the DNA ancestry test is a fun gift for anyone, but possibly those with an interest in anthropology or genealogy will appreciate it most. The recipient gets a testing pack with a couple of cheek swabs to return to the lab, and a few weeks later receives a personalised, glossy world map featuring those local populations with which he shares the strongest DNA matches.
Where: International BioSciences (www.ibdna.com)
How much: £199

26. Sound Asleep Pillow
Does he like to fall asleep to music, but gets tangled in the earphone cable in his sleep? Or is the murmur of his stereo keeping you awake while he dozes? The surprisingly comfy SoundAsleep pillow has a tiny speaker concealed amongst the cushioning, which only the man with his ear to the pillow can hear. It allows him to listen to anything from late-night cricket on the radio, to the latest James Blunt album on his iPod – well, whatever he needs to send him to sleep.
Where: For stockists go to www.sleepltd.co.uk or call 08707 662727
How much: £19.95 

27. Shirt in a box from Ede & Ravenscroft
If you’re not entirely confident of your father/husband/brother’s size and taste, then buying them expensive clothes can be a bit of a minefield. Ede & Ravenscroft, London’s oldest tailor, has one solution – the shirt in a box. The cloth of your choosing comes in a lovely presentation box, but then he can go along to the shop and pick the collar, cuffs and buttons for himself, coming out with a personally tailored shirt for less than a ton.
Where: Ede&Ravenscroft (01223 861 854, www.edeandravenscroft.co.uk)
How much: £96

28. The Glenorchy Hamper
Inverawe Smokehouses has an impressive range of Christmas hampers and gift boxes to choose from (costing between £35 and £235), all ofwhich have enough to please your foodie fellow on Christmas day and throughout the months to come. This mid-range hamper contains their signature smoked salmon, a nice bottle of Sauvignon, some sliced smoked duck and a selection of pâtés and cheese. For afters, there are chocolates and a dozen mince pies. And if the food doesn’t last until summer, the wicker hamper certainly will.
Where: Inverawe (www.smokedsalmon.co.uk)
How much: £82.50

29. Aspinal of London Backgammon set
Aspinal makes all kinds of beautiful leatherware gifts, including wallets and desk diaries, both of which are more practical (and considerably cheaper) than this pricey and slightly frivolous backgammon board. It is a thing of real beauty, though, and the game is addictive and age-old. For a less expensive version, Oliver Bonas (www.oliverbonas.com) also do a nice, roll-up travel backgammon board in suede for less than £40.
Where: www.aspinaloflondon.com
How much: 15” set £395/20” Set £850

30. Rough Trade Album Club
Independent music retailer Rough Trade has just opened a big new store in London’s East End. Its Album Club is a great way to introduce serious music lovers from across the UK to new bands. Every month, members receive a new album chosen by Rough Trade’s expert staff, an exclusive bonus CD of extra material, a listener’s guide written by the band, with recommendations for further listening, and access to Rough Trade’s intimate in-store gigs.
Where: www.thealbumclub.com
How much: Three-month gift subscription £36

31. Voltaic Solar Powered Backpack
Nothing’s more annoying than your phone or MP3 Player running out of juice while you’re away. Inevitably, you’ll have left the charger at home. Stow his gear in the Voltaic whenever he takes a trip and it’ll never be a problem for him. Thebackpack has inbuilt connections for mobile phones, iPods and pretty much anything else you want to charge up from its lightweight, waterproof solar panels.
Where: The Electronic Zone (www.electroniczone.co.uk)
How much: £189 

32. Ted Baker shoe-care kit
Always useful for any man, from school head boys to captains of industry, a shoe-care kit is a great accessory to the wardrobe. This compact kit from Ted Baker has all the essentials: a pair of brushes, a buffer, and two tins of polish in black and neutral. All of it comes in a snug black leather zip bag.
Where: www.tedbaker.com
How much: £30  

33. Mediterranean Garden from Bynature.co.uk
Ethical retailer Bynature has a selection of ready-planted herb, vegetable and salad gardens to choose from. Since it’s the dead of winter, you deliver the gift to your budding amateur chef as a voucher to be redeemed in the spring, atwhich point Bynature will deliver his garden ready-planted in biodegradable pots, so he won’t have to worry about growing them from seeds. Pick of the crop is the Mediterranean garden, which includes aubergines, artichokes, basil, tomatoes, rocket, lettuce, peppers, courgettes and borlotti beans.
Where: www.bynature.co.uk
How much: £42.99

34. Build Your Own VW Bus
You must know a man of a certain age who once dreamt of owning a VW camper and hitting the road with his girlfriend in the passenger seat, just seeing where the mood took them, anywhere from East Anglia to West Germany. Now you can turn a small part of his dream into a reality, with this (scale model of a) VW Bus. It takes a bit of patience to assemble, but the finished product is impeccably detailed. A screwdriver and full instructions are included – not that he’ll read them.
Where: Play.com
How much: £6.99 (in blue or red)

35. Cassini Historical Maps
These historical Ordnance Survey maps are a fantastic gift for history buffs, or anyone with a strong personal connection to a particular region of the UK. As well as four London maps, which cover the years 1805 to 1948 between them, Cassini also does historical OS maps of the whole country, and their website makes it easy to order the right one for your chosen recipient.
Where: Cassini Maps (www.cassinimaps.com)
How much: London box set £34.95; others from £6.49

36. Mr Site Takeaway Website
Mr Site’s takeaway box is the quickest, most user-friendly way to produce a professionally designed dot.com, with a minimumof fuss – and without the huge costs. Whether he has a business to publicise, a talent to show off, or just thoughts to share in a blog, any man who’s tired of the limitations of Facebook will value this gift. £35 buys him his domain namefor a year, and after that he can renew it for £2.99 a month.
Where: WH Smith (www.whsmith.co.uk)
How much: £34.99

37. Knomo Finne Bag
Knomo’s lovely leather laptop carriers are attractive and practical, with plenty of room for the rest of your work gear, encased in light, shock-resistant foam. They also have a magic ingredient – the Knomo tracker. Each bag has a code printed on the inside label, which you can register online. Whoever finds your bag if it’s lost can call Knomo and have it traced back to the owner. Which means you’ll get the bag back, even if somebody’s swiped the computer.
Where: www.knomobags.com
How much: £164.99

38. Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Kit
If your gourmand finds himself away from the kitchen he’s still going to want to chow down in style. This cute outdoor kit will fit snugly in any young traveller’s (or old rambler’s) backpack. Created by Scandinavian designer Joachim Nordwall, the waterproof box contains two plates, a spill free cup, a colander/cutting board and the wonderful spork, which combines all three necessary cutlery items in one, and which its converts absolutely swear by.
Where: www.nordicoutdoor.co.uk
How much: £15

39. Adopt A Polar Bear
In 2007 we’re supposed to be making climate-change history, so what more spectacular way to help out than by adopting every environmentalist’s favourite endangered species, a polar bear. As part of the adoption package, you receive a soft toy and a tri-annual polar bear newsletter. WWF uses the sponsorship money to fund their conservation projects in the Arctic, where the bears’ natural icy habitat is fast melting away.
Where: WWF (www.wwf.org.uk/adoption)
How much: From £2.50 a month 

40. John Lennon Gift Set
This Amnesty International set makes an ethically sound gift for musos young and old. Included in the pack are a double album of Lennon covers and a T-shirt made in sub-Saharan Africa for Edun, the socially conscious clothing company founded by Bono and his wife Ali Hewson. Edun provides employment opportunities in the continent’s poorest regions, and the proceeds from the gift set will fund Amnesty’s work in Darfur. Where: Amnesty (www.amnestyshop.org.uk)
How much: £30

41. The Wattson
A money saver and an energy saver for the man who wants to go green but thinks he can’t afford to. TheWattson is an ingenious wireless device that tells him exactly how much electrical energy he’s expending on the appliances in his home. The pretty ambient light changes colour from blue to red depending on how much energy he’s using, teaching him very simply to turn out the lights when he leaves a room, or to switch off those standby buttons.
Where: www.firebox.com
How much: £149.95

42. NetGranny Socks
Socks no longer need be the least inspiring gift under the tree, thanks to Swiss fashion label Tarzan and its close-knit collective ofSwiss grandmothers. Go to the Netgranny website and pick the Swiss granny you most like the look of, then choose your preferred size and design of sock. She’ll knit them and send them to you in approximately two weeks, so you’ll have to be quick if you want to beat the international Christmas post.
Where: www.netgranny.ch
How much: €26 per pair (approx £18)  

43. Virtu Toaster by Kenwood
Have you got a student in your household, or simply a connoisseur of warmed, sliced bread? If so, he’s bound to appreciate the Virtu by Kenwood, king of toasters. It boasts adjustable settings to accommodate paninis, croissants and baguettes. There’s a “bagel button” for one-side toasting. And its so-called “peek-andview technology” allows you to check on your bread’s progress without interrupting it.
Where: call 02392 392 333 for stockists
How much: £39.99

44. Horse Chestnut Tree
Every big kid played conkers in the playground, so why not give him a way to grow his own. If he sticks with it long enough, it will provide his own kids and grandkids with conkers, too. Tree2mydoor does all sorts of tree gift packages, from native UKtrees like the hazel or the crab apple, to more exotic, fruity flora like lemon or olive trees. Just make sure his garden can accommodate the growth because a tree is for life, not just for Christmas.
Where: www.tree2mydoor.com
How much: £24.50

45. Seinfeld Complete Box Set
Seinfeld was the most successful sitcom in US television history and George Costanza has been called “the best sitcom character of all time” by no less an authority than Ricky Gervais. Finally, a decade after it ended, it is available on DVD in its entirety. Alongside classic episodes like The Soup Nazi or The Marine Biologist are a wealth of DVD extras and a glossy coffee table book. If you don’t want to fork out £120, then each series is also available separately.
Where: www.amazon.co.uk
How much: £119.98 

46. Trevor Baylis
Eco Media Player Trevor Baylis, inventor of the Clockwork Radio, has come up with an eco-friendly alternative to the iPod that will please technophobic granddads and conscientious greenies alike. Wind the crank for just one minute, and you get 40 minutes of video and music playback, or an FM radio. You can use it to charge your mobile phone in an emergency, and it has an LED torch – in case you’re taking it camping, I suppose.
Where: www.windupproducts. com
How much: £159.99

47. A Facial
In London, at least, men are spoilt for choice for cut-throat razor treatment. Buy him the 90- minute La Prairie Swiss Cellular treatment at Duke & Co in Mayfair; a half-hour wet shave and mini- facial at the Lanesborough Hotel’s Spa Studio at Hyde Park Corner, or a classic shave at the Genco salon in Chiswick.
Where: www.dukeandco.co.uk; www.lanesborough.co.uk; Genco (020-8994 0040; www.genco-uk.com)
How much: La Prairie –£125.00; Spa Studio – £45; Genco – £28 

48. Gordon Ramsay by Absolute Taste
Chi-chi catering company Absolute Taste can bring the Gordon Ramsay experience direct to your dining table, by cooking bespoke Ramsay recipes for your party, event or candlelit dinner, with the approval and participation of Gordon himself – the first time his food has been available outside his restaurants. Apresent for your fella that benefits you, as well.
Where: Absolute Taste (www.absolutetaste.com; 020-8870 5151)
How much: from £90 a head

49. Jam Sessions for Nintendo DS
The Nintendo Wii may be sold out already this season, but the company’s handheld DS has some tricks up its sleeve, too. Jam Sessions is a “game” for budding band members. Essentially, it’s an old fashioned four-track, but instead of learning chords on a real guitar, you build up your repertoire using the DS’s tiny screen and stylus. Great for beginners to get a feel for composition, but also as a sketchbook for more experienced songwriters.
Where: HMV(www.hmv.co.uk)
How much: £24.99

50. Vodafone MusicStation
Vodafone has launched Musicstation, giving customers unlimited music downloads to their phone for £1.99 a week. Users can access about a million different tracks. Music lovers would appreciate the addition to their package if you’re planning to give them a new phone, but the service is easy to use on existing handsets, so current Vodafone users won’t have to upgrade to take advantage.
Where: www.vodafone.co.uk
How much: £1.99 per week