Minimums Gift Guide

“Coffee to me is art. The city has so many good local coffee roasting locations and tasting unique coffee flavors is one of my favorite things about living in NYC. But most of the time, I’m too lazy to visit the cafe. So I bought this Espresso Machine to make coffee at home. I chose the Breville BES860XL because it has a grinder in the body. Now I can enjoy the fresh aroma of coffee beans at home.” – Moonsub Shin

“Early in the development of Master & Dynamic’s headphones I sat a small team of design and marketing professionals down and posed the following question:  “If we were building cameras instead of headphones, who would we want to be?” Without hesitating, they all said Leica, the iconic brand I had in mind. Their elegant yet sophisticated cameras continue to inspire me every day. I am honored to say that Leica is a fan of our brand as well.” – Jonathan Levine

“This is one of my favorite pieces that we designed and build at Narrative Furniture. It pays respect to the spirit of mid century modern design, refreshed by incorporating clean/sharp lines and adding dimension and depth with the sculpted top edges. My wife actually named this collection line that includes a dining table, coffee table, side table and console. Being from the Space Coast of Florida, the design reminded her of a module that would make a lunar landing. The name stuck. The tables come in a variety of dimension and hardwood options, but I absolutely love the tone, grain, and feel of walnut.” – Andy Kim

“A ‘toy’ that quickly enhanced site visibility and how we view our projects. It’s amazing to have access to such views.” – Matthew & Jesse Hufft

“These in ear monitors (Ultimate Ears Pro 7’s) are relatively expensive but worth it. I got them for riding my motorcycle with. I enjoy long distance motorcycling. On a trip from San Francisco to New York I realized the need for great headphones. They’re molded to my ear and fill up a good portion of it, taking away a lot of wind noise. When you have these on you, can’t hear anything. It’s very liberating. Walking around in New York with them in gives the feeling of viewing the city from a glass box; makes me much more observant cutting out a sense.” – Jeff Hodsdon

“I’ve been playing the piano by ear since I was 4, but never had a really nice one. When I turned 50, I bought myself a beautiful 7’ Boston grand piano. It’s one of the focal points of our home, and it’s beautiful!” – Susan Bennett

“I’ve had my eye on this Eames lounge chair and ottoman ever since learning about all things Eames in an industrial design class in college about a decade ago. There are numerous Eames lounge chair variations now but I opted for walnut and vincenza leather. While I tend to prefer to grain style of palisander, it varies considerably between chairs and you could end up with one that looks pretty much solid brown with no visible grain.” – Paul Stamatiou

“A tipsy afternoon purchase on 1stDibs; the boys affectionately named him Ernest but I’m considering renaming him Eeyore as much as his tail goes missing around here.” – Andre Mack

“I had a teacher once in college who helped me win a scholarship for playwriting that I didn’t even apply for, said to me: “keep writing. you’re a good comedian but you could be a writer too, you can do both. as long as you keep writing. and never capitalize anything.” So I have this pen as a reminder to me to keep writing & ink on paper is worth much more than driving a Mercedes Benz. Also what I wrote bought the pen, and then with the pen I wrote something that paid for the pen, so the pen paid for itself.” – Kate & T.J. Miller

“I’ve ridden motorcycles since I was 12. I’ve owned close to 20 motorcycles over the years because I hate riding in cars. I just can’t do it. They make me feel claustrophobic and not in control. Last summer I rode my motorcycle from California to North Carolina and back. It took 60 days and I camped most nights or crashed in dirty, cheap motels. I would rather go to the dentist for a root canal for 4 weeks straight than do that same trip in a car. Starting in college I bought a $500 bike, fixed it up, rode it for a week then sold it for $1,000. I recently bought a $6,000 Triumph doing that process using my first $500, which is cool. This Triumph is the best bike that I’ve ever owned.” – Sam Parr

“This bathtub was one of the first things I purchased when we moved into the warehouse. We got it refinished and reglazed and I built all the things around it because we need a place for Amara to take baths. I am not really good at starting home projects and finishing them, but I am proud of pulling this one off. You can find old bathtubs everywhere and reglazing is a great way to reuse and recycle.” – Erik Bruner-Yang

“This is one of my favorite road bikes. It’s a handmade frame by master Italian builder Dario Pegoretti, called the Duende. Decades ago, he was one of the pioneers of TIG welded steel frames and is known for his pretty wild paint jobs. In spite of today’s preference for carbon road frames, the ride on a well-made steel frame is sublime. Everything on this frame, right down to the components (Campagnolo, Chris King, Enve), comes together in a physical (even spiritual) form that embodies what I love about cycling, design, and craftsmanship. Being on this bike gives me that much needed escape from the New York City life.” – Carter & Frank

“I got this watch to celebrate some forgotten milestone in my life that has clearly become less important than the mild horological obsession that replaced it. This particular model—a Rolex Submariner from my birth year—represents so much of what I value in objects: clean, classic, category-defining design.” – Zach Frechette

“I impulsively purchased this limited edition Lego set several years ago for $500 dollars. At the time, I was a little embarrassed spending so much on a Lego set, even though I love both Lego and Star Wars so much. I had intended to assemble it immediately, but it is so huge I wasn’t sure where I would put the finished model. So I held onto it, imagining someday I’d have a house with a room where I could properly build and display it. But now that this particular set has been discontinued, its value has skyrocketed. I’ve seen this on eBay for over $5,000! So now I’m glad I bought it, but torn over whether I should ever actually build it, or sell it to pay rent.” – Jeff Cannata

“As the little brother of Rolex, Tudor can take more chances with their designs because they don’t have as much red tape built into the brand. The end result is some of the most exciting (and quality) timepieces in the game right now. Although the Black Bay might not be as adventurous as say, the Tudor Heritage Chrono Blue, I love the black and navy color combination and think the mesh bracelet really upgrades an already impressive look.” – Jack Archer