> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.unknowndivide.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Gifts for Design Lovers: 10 Classics Still in Production - URL: https://www.unknowndivide.com/gifts-for-design-lovers/ - Published: 2026-09-12T14:22:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-06T16:06:20.000Z - Description: Ten gifts for design lovers that are classics, not novelties: the Braun BC02 clock, Bialetti Moka Express, Stelton EM77, the Aalto vase and more. - Author: unknowndivide staff - Tags: Design, Gift Guides Design gifts tend to fall into a trap. The category gets read as "expensive and unusual," so the guides fill up with sculptural lamps, limited edition prints and objects that look great on Instagram and end up in a cupboard. People who actually care about design usually want the opposite. They want ordinary things that were thought through properly, made by someone who refused to add anything that did not need to be there, and still in production decades later because nobody improved on them. That is the test for everything below. Most of these objects are older than the people who will unwrap them. They are used every day, on a kitchen counter or a desk, and they earn their place by working better than the alternatives, not by looking different. A few are cheap. None of them are novelties. *Unknowndivide may earn a commission from purchases made through links in this guide. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.* ## Braun BC02: the alarm clock ![Black Braun BC02 travel alarm clock with a yellow second hand on a wooden surface](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/10/gifts-for-design-lovers-braun-bc02.webp) Braun BC02\. Photo: Quercus acuta / [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BC02%5F-%5FBraun%5F-%5F01.jpg?ref=unknowndivide.com) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0?ref=unknowndivide.com)) Braun's clocks were run by Dietrich Lubs, who worked alongside Dieter Rams for decades and set the rules: every alarm clock got the same yellow second hand and the same alarm tone. The BC02 comes from the AB 1 that Lubs designed in the late 1980s, updated with a quiet quartz movement and luminous hands. It is 57mm square, runs on AA batteries, and does nothing it does not need to do. Around $27, which makes it the cheapest real piece of design history you can buy. [See the Braun BC02 on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P1B3J8X?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Bialetti Moka Express: the coffee maker Alfonso Bialetti introduced the Moka Express in 1933, and the eight-sided aluminum pot has barely changed since. It is a strong argument against the idea that good coffee requires a machine with a touchscreen. Fill the base with water, the funnel with ground coffee, put it on the stove, and listen for the gurgle. The faceted body has outlived every attempt to modernize it. It is also nearly unbreakable and repairable, since gaskets and filters are sold separately. Hand wash it and never use soap, and it will outlast whoever receives it. Around $50 for the six-cup size. [See the Bialetti Moka Express on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004RFRU?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Bodum Chambord: the French press The Chambord's domed shape traces back to a press made by the French company Martin S.A. in the 1950s, a design Bodum later acquired and has produced ever since. The frame is polished stainless steel, the beaker is borosilicate glass, and the whole thing comes apart for cleaning. It is still made in Portugal. Plenty of cheaper presses copy the look; the Chambord is the one with the proportions right and replacement beakers easy to find, which matters because the glass is the part that eventually breaks. Around $40 for the eight-cup, 34oz model. [See the Bodum Chambord on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008XEWG?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Stelton EM77: the vacuum jug ![Red Stelton EM77 vacuum jug with a cylindrical body and loop handle against a plain background](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/10/gifts-for-design-lovers-stelton-em77.webp) Stelton EM77 vacuum jug designed by Erik Magnussen. Photo: Holger Ellgaard / [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stelton%5Ftermos.jpg?ref=unknowndivide.com) ([CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0?ref=unknowndivide.com)) Erik Magnussen designed the EM77 for Stelton in 1977, and its trick is in the lid. The rocker stopper tips open when you pour and closes when you set the jug down, so there is no cap to unscrew with one hand while holding a cup with the other. A glass insert keeps coffee hot for hours. It is a Scandinavian design classic in the most literal sense, a museum shop staple that people actually use at breakfast. The black version is the one to buy. Around $104. [See the Stelton EM77 on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LFBUQC?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Alessi 9093: the kettle with a sense of humor ![Polished steel Alessi 9093 kettle by Michael Graves with a blue handle and a red bird on the spout](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/41/254117cc-2631-4fb7-9f78-fa31eac12f1a/content/images/2026/10/gifts-for-design-lovers-alessi-9093.webp) Alessi 9093 kettle designed by Michael Graves. Photo: Holger Ellgaard / [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Graves%5Fkittel%5F1984.jpg?ref=unknowndivide.com) ([CC BY-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0?ref=unknowndivide.com)) Not every design classic is austere. Michael Graves drew the 9093 kettle for Alessi in 1985, with a little plastic bird on the spout that whistles when the water boils, and it became one of Alessi's best sellers. It is postmodernism you can put on a stove: a cone of polished steel, a pale blue handle, a red bird, a joke that has lasted forty years. If the recipient owns everything on this list already, this is the piece that proves design can be playful without being disposable. Around $140. [See the Alessi 9093 kettle on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Y6FT?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Fellow Stagg EKG Pro: the modern one For a kettle designed this century, Fellow's Stagg EKG is the one that has earned a place next to the classics. The gooseneck spout gives pour-over drinkers precise control, the base holds a set temperature, and the matte black body looks like an object rather than an appliance. The Pro version adds a brew timer and more settings in a 0.9 liter body. It costs a lot for a kettle, and that is exactly why it works as a gift: almost nobody buys it for themselves. Around $180. [See the Fellow Stagg EKG Pro on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BF7DXLBF?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Iittala Aalto vase: the centerpiece Alvar Aalto designed this wavy glass vase in 1936, and it was shown at the Paris World's Fair the following year. Iittala still makes it by mouth-blowing glass into a mold in Finland, so no two are quite the same. It is the most expensive object here for its size, and the smallest versions are still not cheap. But it is also the one that most clearly belongs in a design museum, and the one that looks right with a single stem in it or nothing at all. The 4.75 inch clear vase is a good place to start. Around $155. [See the Iittala Aalto vase on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FMZQ1Q?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Lamy Safari: the pen Lamy launched the Safari in 1980, designed by Wolfgang Fabian, and it was meant to be a sturdy pen for students. It is still the best first fountain pen. The ABS body survives being dropped, the triangular grip puts fingers in the right place, and the big wire clip is an unapologetic piece of industrial design. It takes cheap cartridges or a converter for bottled ink, and the steel nibs are swappable. For someone who writes by hand, it is a small upgrade that changes a daily habit. Around $31. [See the Lamy Safari on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001LKORZ2?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Leuchtturm1917 A5: the notebook A good pen needs paper that does not bleed. Leuchtturm1917 was founded in Germany in the year in its name, and its A5 hardcover notebook has become the default for people who plan, sketch and journal on paper. The pages are numbered, there is a blank table of contents at the front, two ribbon markers and a pocket at the back. The dotted version works for everything from lists to layouts. It is not precious enough to be scared of filling, which is the point. If they prefer a daily planner, the [Hobonichi Techo](https://www.unknowndivide.com/hobonichi-techo/) is the alternative. Around $25. [See the Leuchtturm1917 A5 notebook on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BK9YLM3C?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Dieter Rams: The Complete Works: the book Plenty of books summarize Rams. Klaus Klemp's Phaidon catalogue, published in 2020, documents every product Rams designed, from radios and record players to shelving and calculators, across 344 pages of photographs and notes. It is a reference book that is also a pleasure to page through, and it puts several objects on this list in context. Read alongside our explainer on [Rams' ten principles of good design](https://www.unknowndivide.com/dieter-rams-10-principles-of-good-design-explained/), it explains why so much of what is good about modern products started in a Braun studio in the 1960s. Around $49. [See Dieter Rams: The Complete Works on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1838661530?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) ## Buy the classic, not the copy Almost every object here has been copied, often well and usually for less. The copies are fine. But the originals have spare parts, consistent quality and a story that comes in the box, and that is what turns a useful thing into a good gift. For more on where these ideas came from, our list of [design books every designer should own](https://www.unknowndivide.com/best-design-books-every-designer-should-own/) and the story of the [Braun SK4](https://www.unknowndivide.com/dieter-rams-braun-sk4/) are good places to keep reading. The makers tell their own stories at [Braun Clocks](https://us.braun-clocks.com/products/bc02-classic-travel-analogue-alarm-clock-red?ref=unknowndivide.com), [Stelton](https://www.stelton.com/pages/em77?ref=unknowndivide.com), [Phaidon](https://www.phaidon.com/en-us/products/dieter-rams-the-complete-works?ref=unknowndivide.com) and [Bodum](https://www.bodum.com/us/en/history?ref=unknowndivide.com). Everything here is available on Amazon at the links above. More in our [Design & Art hub](https://www.unknowndivide.com/design-and-art/) and our [Desk & Everyday Carry hub](https://www.unknowndivide.com/desk-and-edc/).