Gift Guide 2003
By Jonah Freedman; Megan Johnston; Tara Kalwarski; Stephanie D. Smith; Farnoosh Torabi; Amy Wilson

(MONEY Magazine) – To head off any moments of sweaty indecision you may have as you shop for the holidays, here's the ultimate gift guide. We skipped the standbys--jewelry, sweaters and such--in favor of fresh ideas for the perfect present. You'll find 50 here, organized by category, from books and CDs to sports and tech, home, kids and more. Unless noted, prices (the manufacturer's suggested retail) do not include shipping or taxes.

Books and CDs

1. JOSHUA BELL'S ROMANCE OF THE VIOLIN, $19, the Grammy-winning virtuoso's latest. 2. THE ORIGIN OF THINGS: SKETCHES, MODELS, PROTOTYPES (NAi Publishers Rotterdam, $35) looks at how design icons--from the paper clip to the Prada New York City store--came into being. 3. THE VILLAS OF PALLADIO (Princeton Architectural Press, $50), pen-and-ink renderings of Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio's greatest villas by artist Giovanni Giaconi. 4. VLADIMIR HOROWITZ LIVE AND UNEDITED, $20, a never-before-released recording of Vlad's 1965 Carnegie Hall comeback performance. 5. Al GREEN'S I CAN'T STOP, $18, with 12 new songs from the Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer. 6. ONCE THERE WAS A WAY: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE BEATLES (Abrams, $30), photographer Harry Benson's two-year chronicle of the group's rise to fame. 7. VAN MORRISON'S WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?, $19, includes new songs and arrangements of oldies like the traditional tune St. James Infirmary. 8. IN MANHATTAN WITHIN (Random House, $35), Matteo Pericoli's sketches of New York City's skyline as seen from Central Park unfold to 22 feet. 9. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma takes on the samba and the bossa nova in OBRIGADO BRAZIL, $19.

Travel

1. You'll always look polished while carrying this classic: DUNHILL'S SIDECAR DOCUMENT CASE, $745 at Dunhill, 800-776-4053. The exterior boasts grained cowhide and solid brass hardware; the interior is lined in blue suede. 2. Mandarina Duck's CABIN SUITER BAG, $350 at flight001.com, is sturdy yet feather-light. 3. Knopf's newest MAPGUIDES--Hong Kong, Istanbul, Milan, Munich and Stockholm--include six to eight foldout maps and 100 color photographs, and come packed with transportation, hotel and cultural information. The guides, also available for 17 additional cities, are $9 each at bookstores everywhere. 4. The ergonomic design of the TUMI T3 GARMENT BAG, $325, makes it comfortable to carry. Pick it up at Tumi shops, luggage stores or tumi.com.

Sports

1. ODYSSEY'S WHITE HOT TWO-BALL BLADE PUTTER, $169 at tgw.com, will keep your putting up to par. 2. Borrowing technology used for military helicopter rotor blades, HEAD'S INTELLIGENCE SNOWBORARDS become more or less flexible, depending on snow conditions and the rider's speed. The FREERIDE shown here is $579; go to head.com for a retailer near you. 3. NIKE'S NEW TRIAX CV10 watch, $300 at Niketown stores, measures your heart rate as well as speed and distance. 4. AK SKIS, $795 at akski-usa.com, have been around only for a year in the United States, but hard-core skiers already covet them. Combining technological know-how from the racing departments of Swiss Rossignol and Swiss Atomic, Aldo Kuonen developed No Ka Oi, a high-performance, precision-carving ski equally suited for powder or groomed trails. 5. PATAGONIA'S R2 ALPINEFUR PULLOVER, $155 at patagonia.com, will keep you warm at the core but still let you move your arms freely.

Tech

1. JBL'S INVADER SPEAKER SET, $180 at jblinvader.com and CompUSA, has a space-age, Star Trek-esque look. 2. The sleek APPLE iSIGHT WEBCAM, $149 at apple.com, is compatible with Macintosh computers and processes as many as 30 frames a second. 3. MOTOROLA'S HS-810 BLUETOOTH WIRELESS HEADSET, $120 at motorola.com, works with any Bluetooth-enabled cell phone. 4. Compact and portable, the HP PHOTOSMART 145, $150 at consumer-electronics stores, produces quality four-inch-by-six-inch prints of your digital pictures. 5. With the HANDSPRING TREO 600, $500 to $600 (depending on the cell-phone service provider) at handspring.com, you can surf the Web, make calls, take pictures, play music, send e-mail and watch videos. 6. Transfer your VHS tapes onto a DVD with the HP DVD MOVIE WRITER DC3000, $349 at consumer-electronics stores.

Home

1. and 2. Finnish designer ANNE KYYOR QUINN uses handmade felt to decorate this black wool pillow, $143, and matching red throw, $395; both at annekyyroquinn.com. 3. Light blue RUBBER VASE, $29 at Conran, 866-755-9079. The malleable flower pots also come in various sizes and colors. 4. Stelton's classic Danish-designed ABS VACUUM THERMOS, $57 at mossonline.com, keeps hot things hot and cool things cool. 5. Not your mother's serving trays: Chic home-accessories designer Angela Adams reinvents the BUTLER TRAY, $75 through Angela Adams, 800-255-9454. 6. THE BRIONVEGA TS522, $250 at Conran, 866-755-9079, is a portable radio with a distinctive design--it can sit opened or closed--that boasts 29 FM storable stations, automatic station search and manual tuning. A handle pops up for easy carrying.

Kitchen

1. Bialetti, maker of the classic stovetop espresso maker, has gone electric with its six-cup MOKA EASY, $59.95 at Broadway Panhandler, 866-266-5927. Seven minutes is all it takes to brew. 2. This stainless-steel magnetic SPICE RACK WITH FIVE TINS, $42 at sohospices.com, is a snappy, efficient way to store your most-reached-for spices. 3. A teapot that boils water and looks stylish too: half-quart olive-green STAUB "LA THEIERE" TEA POT, $69.94 at Broadway Panhandler, 866-266-5927. 4. KRUPS' UNIVERSAL GRILL, $79.95 at Sur La Table, 800-243-0852, is designed to make panini, but it grills chicken, fish and steak too. Think George Foreman--for gourmets. And as shown on page 1 of this guide, Nigella Lawson, of TV cooking-show fame (Nigella Bites), is taking on cookware. Her baby-blue egg-shaped CERAMIC MIXING BOWLS, $90 for a set of four at kitchenkaboodle.com, are smartly designed to nest in your arms as you stir.

Kids

1. DISCOVERY KIDS' SL70 TELESCOPE is made for tykes and comes with a backpack carrying case. But its adjustable tripod makes it adult-friendly too. This 70mm sky-and-land scope is available at discoverystore.com for $150. 2. HORSE PUPPET, $22, by Eco Toys at mossonline.com. 3. ODDBALLS This rubber exercise ball, a remake of the 1963 original by Italian architect Aquilino Cosani, is $26 (air pump not included) at specialty shops like American Mortals, 215-574-1234, or Schain Studio, 513-772-3777. 4. Something for the kids that's sure to please the parents: STACKABLE TIN BOXES from French illustrator Sandrine Fabre, $38 at vivre.com. 5. TOSHIBA'S SDP1200 PORTABLE DVD PLAYER, $600 at electronics stores, has a rubberized "sure grip" design that's tough and sturdy.

Leisure

1. Richard Wheatley's Silver Seal Aluminum Fly-Fishing Box On one side, clips hold wet flies, nymphs and streamers securely; on the other, 16 compartments, each with a spring-loaded clear cover, store dry flies (not included). From Orvis for $105, 800-541-3541. 2. and 3. Womanswork makes gardening gloves that actually fit a woman's hand. The GAUNTLET GLOVE, $27.50 at womanswork.com, is long enough to protect even your forearms against thorny rose bushes. The white GOATSKIN GLOVE, $24.95, is buttery soft. 4. At last, a field version of David Sibley's seminal--and comprehensive--guide to birds: the Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America and the SIBLEY FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS OF WESTERN NORTH AMERICA (Knopf, $19.95 each at bookstores everywhere).

Food

1. BOUNTY HUNTER'S KILLER CAB WINE-BY-THE-MONTH CLUB, $149 a month for three bottles, rounds up the rarest top-shelf Cabernets from all over the world (shipping is included), 800-943-9463. 2. THE T SALON & T EMPORIUM in New York City packages its 250 loose-leaf tea blends in slick hostess-gift tins, $10 to $15 a tin at tsalon.com. Or buy the pyramid-shaped tea pouches, available in 17 blends--a box of 25 costs $11.25. 3. Sign up for WILLIAMS-SONOMA'S CHEESE CLUB, $189, and get three months of prizewinning cheese from the United States and England. Among the picks, shown here: an aged Portuguese-style cheese from California and a classic Stilton from Nottinghamshire, 800-332-1648. 4. PRUNEAUX D'AGEN FOURRéS, a tin of dried Agen plums filled with orange-infused prune cream, costs $30 at deandeluca.com. 5. Test your FOOD SMARTS with this trivia game for food lovers: How many varieties of avocados are there? A) 12 B) 79 C) 228 D) 500. (The answer is D: 500.) It costs $22.95; 212-206-6238. 6. THE ESSENTIAL PANTRY, $50 at deandeluca.com, includes extra-virgin olive oil, tawny Kalamata vinegar, pungent peppercorns and French sea salt, all packaged in a silver-colored gift box.