Holiday Splurge: 17 Luxury Gifts for 2021
Perhaps not all of us are in the splurging spirit - or giving spirit at all - this year, but not all of my 17 luxury gifts for 2021 are profanely unaffordable. Some of their prices, such as the Titanium Beer Mugs pictured above, are just mildly offensive. Others are expensive, but their costs reflect their quality, or the item itself, such as the Snow Peak Living Lodge. It will run you a couple grand, but could be considered a gift for the whole family.
And still other luxury gifts are...simply luxury gifts. Things with crazy high prices that no one really needs - ahem, Jetson ONE, Tesla Cyberquad - but many highly covet, and giving one of them will make you your gift recipient's favoritist [enter relationship to gift recipient here] ever.
Check it out, my roundup of 17 luxury gifts for 2021.
Note: All 17 luxury gifts are priced as they were at printing on December 5, 2021. Pricing, and availability, are subject to change.
Dime Wall-Mounted Bar Cabinet
Welp, Splinterworks certainly doesn't call their wall-mounted bar cabinet "Dime" for its price tag. And though it may be appropriate to conclude that a purchase of the semi-spherical segmented spirits shelf would leave you with nary a Dime to your name, that's not where it gets its either.
Instead, Splinterworks sees the Dime bar cabinet as "evocative of a spinning coin," a sort of kinetic sculpture that ripples open and closed, lookin' all like a turning dime at various points along its rotating path. The segmented leaves that form the convex cover are made of walnut, and each "opens with a pleasing resistance" that leads to even more pleasure when you see the railed semi-circular shelf full of fine liquor, and drawer filled with bar tools inside. Dime is the definition, I'd say, of functional art.
Pure Titanium Beer Mug
Ivory soap might be 99 44/100% pure, but this titanium beer mug ekes out the win at 99.5%. Not that soap and titanium really merit comparison, but since they're calling this double insulated drinkware a beer mug, and beer and soap both lead to sudsing up, preferably in a Splinter Works Hammock Bathtub with a pint of pilsner, my line of thinking, as always, is still spot on.
9,090-Piece LEGO Titanic
Ready to go down like the Titanic? Then try your hand at building LEGO's 9,090-piece, 1:20 scale Titanic replica. They call the 53" long working model a "colossal achievement," being the largest LEGO set created to date, but consider they said the same thing about the Titanic ship itself, and look what happened there.
The LEGO Titanic model features multiple cross-sections of the ocean liner you can split apart to see interior spaces, such as the grand staircase and smoking lounge, as well as to tinker with moving pieces. Propellers, for example, spin to activate piston engines inside. The LEGO Titanic's anchor also raises to adjust the tension line between masts.
Reddick Voyager Modular Guitar
According to Reddick, "Voyager is a boutique modular guitar designed for the gigging musician." And if this Dude is anything, I am...farther away from being a gigging musician than The Beatles are from getting back together.
The Voyager features interchangeable pickup and control modules Reddick says gives musicians complete, real-time sound control in seconds. No tools are required, and you don't even need to mute your amplifier during the process. In addition to adding efficiency and versatility, the modular guitar also eliminates the need for musicians to schlep along multiple guitars to shows and recording sessions. Changing a Voyager module in the middle of a song will likely even add to the entertainment value of a live performance, since most audiences won't have seen anything like it before.
DeepLight 12 - Infinity Mirror LED Dodecahedron
The DeepLight 12 is a dodecahedron of epic proportions. Its effect is spectacular, a 19" x 19" x 19" interactive sculpture that "leverages the unique properties of light to give the viewer the perception of staring into an endless abyss of geometry and color." Artist David Hughes is the mastermind behind the DeepLight 12 design, and he's produced just 500 of the dozen-faced LED infinity mirrors for hypnotists, math nerds, and optical illusion enthusiasts to add to their art collections. It is his first piece offered to the public.
Jetson ONE Personal Electric Aerial Vehicle
Jetson calls their Jetson ONE "a commercially available personal electric aerial vehicle that you can own and fly." For our purposes, we'll call it a human-totin' drone.
The Jetson ONE aesthetic takes inspiration from race cars, and its aluminum and carbon fiber build from space frame safety cell design.
Star Wars Death Star 1oz Gold Coin
I'd really like one of these Star Wars Death Star 1oz Gold Coins, but I'm pretty sure buying one would be the death of me. Either via superlaser to the face, or fist to the face if my wife found out I spent $2,900 on a Death Star 1oz gold Coin. She-Ra: Princess of Power has sensible spending habits and a mean right hook.
The Space Safe - High-Tech Smart Safe
They could have called the Space Safe the Safe Space, and it would have been more accurate since, aside from the brand's astronaut logo, this high-tech smart safe has nothing to do with outer space. It does, however, provide 1.2 cubic feet of safe space - maybe the safest space ever - to store your valuables and protect them from intruders, plus nosy mothers-in-law, who would seek to steal them.
Designed with exterior and interior cameras and accelerometer sensors for remote monitoring, multi-party PIN and biometric access, optional WiFi connectivity for SMS or app notifications of shenanigans, and the ability to remotely disable the safe and alert 911 of sticky fingers via the Space App, the Space Safe aims to be a formidable, impassive addition to your home security system. With a sleek black design and tempered glass door, the Space Safe is a fairly inconspicuous installation as well.
Speedland SL:PDX Trail Running Shoes
I don't know if Speedland's SL:PDX trail running shoes will up your trail running game, but the Portland brand's high-performance, modifiable footwear will certainly up your mint green fashion game.
SL:PDX trail runners feature a Dyneema knit upper criss-crossed with a PeformFit Wrap and Boa Li2 lacing system for a quick, precision fit that's also easily modified on the trail if your feet swell, or you realize you made a wrong turn...of the dial somewhere. Inside the shoe you'll find a Carbitex plate for increased propulsion and prot
Snow Peak Living Lodge
Living large in the Living Lodge. This combo outdoor shelter and camping tent from Snow Peak features a roomy open canopy for group gatherings extending from a fully enclosed sleeping space large enough for 3 to 7 people. The tent portion of the Living Lodge also has 4 mesh windows and internal storage pockets.
Ideal for car camping, glamping, and - ladies - having a family BBQ and then making your unruly children and / or husband sleep in the backyard, the Living Lodge comes in medium and large sizes.
Pocket Piano - Modular, Magnetic Portable Piano
The Pocket Piano isn't quite pocket-sized, but this modular, snap-together magnetic piano is definitely portable enough to take and set up anywhere you want to play a 7-octave, 2-pedaled professional piano. Your mama's house. The cafeteria. The beach. The top of the mountain you just hiked up with your Pocket Piano in its barely-bigger-than-a-lunchbox carrying case.
And if you suck at piano? Well, hey. The Pocket Piano is a great way to make sure you can practice no matter where you go.
Modern Kids' Playhouse
David Lamolla's modern kids' playhouses are smart and snazzy designs for your budding architects, your preschool aesthetes, and your own (usually futile) efforts not to trash up your yard with a bunch of kiddie crap.
Like any fine design, Lamolla's playhouses don't come cheap, but I suppose once the squirts get too big or too into parking themselves in front a screen indoors to use them, you can convert the Japanese-inspired futuristic shelters into a shed or, like, Darth Vader Meditation Chamber.
Respira Smart Garden - Hydroponic Plant Air Purifier
Black thumbs and black lungs, the Respira Smart Garden is here for you. A hybrid hydroponic plant wall and air purifier, the Respira merges plants' natural biofiltration process with smart technology to produce a healthy home appliance that is also quite nice to look at.
Respira's plant wall is built into an electronic frame that both enhances its function as an air purifier, and ensures the plants thrive with very little effort on your part. In fact, all you really need to do to care for the plants is pour more water into the Respira reservoir every 10 days or so.
Backcountry Hut Company System S Prefab Sauna
System S, my system says YES! Backcountry Hut Company, please feel free to send me one prefab free-standing sauna, free of all permit, construction, and assembly requirements. But do keep in mind the key word here: "free."
The System S Sauna is an architectural delight that arrives ready to get steamy on any 8' x 10' footprint you have on your property at home or out yonder. The only thing Backcountry Hut Company's hot box requires is the electrical hookups to make it hot, plus you and up to 5 friends to make it hotter.
11 Ravens Luxury Gaming Tables
11 Ravens' luxury gaming tables are going to cost you...a helluva lot more than 11 ravens. But, with designs available for tables sporting billiards, ping pong, foosball, air hockey, shuffleboard, poker, mahjong, and even convertible gaming-to-dining, if you're planning on staying inside shacked up with your family this winter, 11 Ravens' architectural beauties will at least give you something as stunning to look at as they are fun to play on.
No offense to your wife.
Tesla Cyberquad for Kids
Daddy wants a Tesla Cybertruck for Christmas? Too bad. The executives at Mommy's company are hoarding all the money they could be sharing with the people who do all the work, so she only has enough to buy a Tesla Cyberquad...as a gift for the kids. And, at $1,900, even that's a stretch.
Ferrari Coffee Table Book
I can't afford a new Ferrari. Aaaand, I can't afford a new Ferrari coffee table book either. Come on, Italian powerhouse founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1947! Where's the peek into the Ferrari Archives for those of your admirers who can't go from $0 to $6,000 in 3 seconds flat?
A limited edition of a fitting 1,947 copies, the Ferrari coffee table book arrives numbered and signed by Piero Ferrari.