Welcome to the T-list, a newsletter from the editors of T Magazine. For this edition, we’ve turned it into an engagement gift guide with recommendations for what to get your soon-to-be-married friends. (These can double as wedding gift ideas if you dare to go off the record.) Register here to find us in your inbox every Wednesdayalong with monthly travel and beauty guides and the latest stories from our print editions. And you can always contact us at tmagazine@nytimes.com.
Raise the bar
Craft glass to show off
Help your friends raise a glass to the occasion by gifting them the Maison Balzac Every Cocktail Set, which contains six cocktail glasses, each corresponding to a specific drink, from an Aperol spritz to a dirty martini or Manhattan. Each piece includes a perpetual glass ornament to make bartending a step easier. For the cosmically inclined, New York-based glassware company Sprezz collaborated with interior design firm Charlap Hyman on a set of astrological sign glasses. Add a touch of personalization by choosing the couple’s zodiac sign, which will hopefully serve as a soothing reminder of their zodiac compatibility. For a versatile option, jewelry designer Jean Prounis recently launched a line of glass and vases with studs or decorative glass blobs. They are made of Waldglas, or forest glass, which has a light green pigment due to a chemical reaction between the iron-rich sand and ash of burnt wood used in its creation. For more concentrated color, consider an elegant vase from Verre d’Onge in a burnt sienna shade. Each item is hand-blown in designer Jérémie St-Onge’s studio in Montreal, making it a unique piece of functional art.
Game night
Playing cards and tarot decks from a 176-year-old Parisian company
A deck of deluxe playing cards makes a wonderfully frivolous but fancy gift for newlyweds-to-be, whether your friends are the type to get competitive on game night or display it as a piece of decor. From 1848, the French firm Grimaud industrialized the card-making process and introduced what were pioneering design ideas at the time, such as rounded corners and the use of opaque, heavy paper. In 1900, the company was awarded the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle. But two years ago, Grimaud paused its activities to refresh its product range and re-emphasize the design qualities that its founder, Baptiste Paul Grimaud, had invented and made famous over 150 years earlier. “We wanted to create the Tiffany of playing cards,” says Guillaume Reslou, the company’s current vice president. During the break, Reslou and his team researched the Grimaud archives at the French National Library, connected with collectors and worked with playing card historian Christian Rouleau to innovate around the brand. This month, the company launched its new collection of playing cards with characters hand-drawn by French artist Julie Serre. Two divination games – tarot cards, reimagined by French illustrator Margot Reverdy, and an oracle game – are set to be released on November 4. Each stack is a nod to Grimaud’s early influences, with gilded corners (“Hard to do because it had to be very precise,” Reslou says) and artisanal printing on “casino-quality, but thicker” cardstock.A variety of accessories—display trays, sleeves and a play mat among them – adding flair to the shuffle. From $95 for playing cards, grimaudparis.com.
Jewelery has long been more than just an accessory – it often carries a story, whether it’s an heirloom passed down through generations or a piece picked up during travels. Some designers offer creative ways to distill entire narratives into a single trinket. Sarah Ysabel Narici, the founder of the jewelry brand Dyne, launched her Loverglyphs collection in 2022 with wedding bands she designed for herself and her husband. She creates the pieces based on extensive conversations with her clients and draws from a set of symbols inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphs and stones that represent the wearer’s history and important life events. British brand Cece Jewelery mixes myth, nature and personal stories in 18-carat pendants and rings that feature miniature paintings and engraved motifs. A recent commission portrayed an oak tree to symbolize strength and deep roots, a rose to embody love and lavender to represent grace. Jen Tran, the founder of Millie & Noah, turned to jewelry after experiencing personal loss and leaving a career in biotech. She found healing in making pieces that honor individual stories. Named after her father and son, her brand offers custom engraved cameos and gravure prints that celebrate her clients’ most cherished connections.
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