PRIOR Approval

We at PRIOR usually buy our holiday gifts during our travels throughout the year, seeking far-flung treasures that will delight and inspire. This year, delight and inspiration are still the motivation behind what our team is gifting, but they are joined by a desire to both acknowledge the moment and help friends and family dream beyond it, to a time when we’ll travel and toast together again. Here are our selections for making every day more extraordinary.

Chich-Bich Backgammon

Flaÿou is a Tunis-based design studio I discovered through my friend Pauline, who’s always waxing rhapsodic about Tunisia and its design community. Their creations follow the 3,000-year-old tradition of Berber craftsmanship using local materials like clay, but I’m especially drawn to their extremely joyful designs, which are perfect for this festive season. This backgammon set is inspired by the pottery of the Sejnane region and is crafted entirely by hand — made super fun with electric blue accents. — Carlos Huber

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Salvador Dalí’s Tarot Cards

Whether you’re a believer in the mystic or not, this set of tarot cards by the seminal Surrealist artist holds its own as an object to be admired for its wildly creative imagery — that is, if it’s not used for divine guidance till the corners become well worn. These cards have been a huge source of inspiration since I discovered them. While I’ve never quite gotten around to it, I’ve always imagined the set hung as individually framed artworks to fill a wall. I’m hoping a friend who receives these might make it happen. — Conor Burke

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Junzou Maekawa Kyūsu

This year, I’ll be gifting this rustic kyūsu––a traditional Japanese teapot used for brewing green tea like sencha, gyokuro and even genmaicha or houjicha––from Kettl. Handcrafted in Japan by young potter Maekawa Junzou, its playful round shape and easy handling make this a great pot for those getting into tea and seasoned drinkers alike. It’s the perfect gift for anyone obsessed with wabi-sabi, the Japanese philosophy centered around the acceptance of transience, with wabi meaning “rustic simplicity” and sabi meaning “one taking pleasure in the imperfect.” — Ben Hannon Hubley

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Burkina Slides

I’m a huge fan of Aurora James and everything she does, from the 15% pledge initiative that she created to Brother Vellies, her brand of handmade (and insanely chic) artisanal shoes and accessories. Made across the globe in South Africa, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Italy, Haiti and New York City, each pair celebrates the place they come from and the people who made them. These Burkina Slides are so fun, colorful and practical! The local patterns are woven in Burkina Faso by a marginalized community of female weavers. I think they spark a bit of hope for warmer days ahead. — Vanessa Montenegro

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Bichi Wines 2019 Pet Mex

With a name that means “naked” in regional dialect, this sparkling pét-nat by Bichi Wines is among the few unfiltered wines made in Tecate, México, using the méthode ancestrale, i.e., the process used to make Champagne. The vines are planted in northern Baja, California, close to the Pacific, where the grapes are hand-harvested and allowed to ferment with wild yeasts in the 69-year-old vineyard. A cult favorite for those in the natural-wine know, Bichi’s vintages sell out pretty quickly, so getting a bottle of this Mexican bubbly is reason enough to celebrate. ¡Salud! — Laila Said

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P.Le Moult Pyjamas

If 2020 has taught us anything, pyjamas aren’t for weekends anymore. My go-to gift for the quarantined office worker is the P.Le Moult line of loungewear, which is woven in southern Indian cotton fields, printed and sewn in Bombay and sold by the Vienna-based granddaughter of Eugene Le Moult, the famed twentieth-century naturalist. The label suits all ages, genders and tastes, ranging from dressing gowns to long shirts and WFH pyjamas. — Gabe Brotman

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Hestra Wakayama Gloves

Dear friends in Sweden swear by these hand-sewn Hestra cowhide gloves to get them through the long winters. The lifties in Jackson Hole wear a version of them, too. In a year when we need to be gloving up — to slow virus transmission and also to keep our hands toasty while hanging outdoors — I can’t think of a more necessary gift than these incredibly durable gloves with washable wool linings, made by the family business that’s been designing them in the Swedish village of Hestra since 1936 for generations of lumberjacks and skiers. — Alex Postman

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The Land Yacht

Stoneware meets stonerware. Simultaneously subtle and showstopping, this sculptural ceramic bong, handcrafted in California, is the center of attention in any room. There’s nothing better than having a friend (or your mother) open a gift box at their doorstep to find a chic bong. — Christian Novogratz

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Coravin & 2005 Haut Brion

In this age of armchair travel and social isolation, we dream of the rolling vineyards of Bordeaux, and its well known Chateaus, while we stare longingly at our wine collection, awaiting the day when we can share a celebratory bottle with friends to welcome the end of COVID.

In my imaginary travels, no wine personifies this journey to Bordeaux better than Château Haut Brion, and no recent vintage better than the 2005, which earned a perfect 100 score from wine critics, Robert Parker, James Suckling, Wine Spectator, and Jeb Dunnink. This wine is sold out almost everywhere, but our friends at Sokolin managed to secure a few bottles.

But as we are still spending endless nights at home, how can we splurge on such a rare bottle all alone? Well, avid wine collector and medical device inventor Greg Lambrecht faced the same dilemma when he was desperate to taste a rare wine but reluctant to open the valuable bottle because his wife was pregnant. So he created a device, called Coravin (the name derived from Latin, with cor meaning heart and vin, well, you know), using an ultra-fine needle he had previously invented for pediatric patients to pour wine without removing the cork, so he could pour the wine without risk of oxidation.

So while we can’t travel to Bordeaux quite yet, or gather with friends, with our clever Coravin device, we can now taste the best expression of its terroir. Cheers. - Marc Blazer

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Roxanne Assoulin Bracelet

Roxanne has been making jewelry and accessories since the 1970s, and has worked with brands like Oscar de la Renta, J. Crew and Marc Jacobs. In 2017, a namesake collection of colorful, ceramics-inspired bracelets for her friends — later called “chiclets” — quickly developed a cult following, resulting in lines for both men and women. Her signature tiled bracelets make for the perfect gifts for friends, and are the mood-lifting accessory we all need in 2021. — Nick Chandler

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Roland Lannier Steak Knife Set

Living upstate (and cooking for myself), I really miss long dinners at Frenchette with friends. A very special banquette cohort will receive a set of the knives that the restaurant uses — the I.Q. test French ones with the tricky-to-determine blade side — for steak night, along with a dry-aged organic tomahawk chop from my friends at Belcampo Meat Co. If only the Frenchette chefs could FedEx their frites! — Christine Muhlke

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Travel Yoga Mat

When I’m constantly on the move, I find it important to stretch out — especially after being cramped on long-haul flights. Yoga is my centering space, and all I need is a mat. While most tend to bulk up your suitcase, the B Mat Traveler 2mm’s thin, lightweight structure is perfect for the carry-on yogini. — Hallie Neumann

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Brightland - The Artist Capsule

This year I’m looking to gift something that will not only inspire but soothe, and this collection of olive oils from the California company Brightland does just that. Combining antioxidants that energize, restore and preserve one’s body with gorgeous bottles designed by category-changing artists, these three bottles are the perfect way for someone special in your life to explore their own creativity and share it with the ones they love. — Alexandra Lewis

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Gammarelli Socks

The official tailor of the Pope since 1798, Gammarelli has been on devout Catholics’ Rome itineraries for decades. For anyone looking for a one-of-a-kind gift, the cardinal-red, bishop-purple and priest-black silk socks are a holy luxury, just recently made available online. (The Pope’s white socks? Available via special request only.) — William Pollard

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