Executive Desk Toys: From the 1970s Office to Today

In the 1970s and 80s, no senior manager's desk was complete without something chrome that moved. Executive desk toys were part status symbol, part stress relief and part conversation piece — and they never really went away. Today's versions are made for the same hands.

The classics of the 70s and 80s

• The Newton's cradle. Five steel balls clicking back and forth — the definitive executive toy. How it works.
• The drinking bird. A glass bird that dips its beak into water over and over, powered by evaporation.
• Kinetic sculptures — swinging arms and balanced wires that moved for minutes at a push.
• Pin art — a frame of pins that took the shape of your hand or face.
• Magnetic sculptures — a magnetic base and a pile of steel shapes to build with.
• Clicker balls — two balls on strings, swung to clack together.
• Perpetual motion gadgets that weren't, quite.

Why executives had them

• Thinking time. Something to do with your hands while you think, listen or wait.
• An icebreaker. Visitors would reach for it and the meeting would start with a smile.
• Status. Chrome, glass and steel looked expensive, and said that the desk's owner had the kind of job where you could have one.

The toys have changed; the reasons haven't. Research on fidgeting suggests that small, repetitive movements help some people concentrate, and anyone who has clicked a pen through a long call knows the feeling.

The modern executive desk toy

The best modern desk toys follow the same rules as the classics: metal, weight, quality and quiet.

Newton's cradle. Still the centrepiece — no desk toy has replaced it.

Chaos pendulum. A double pendulum whose arms swing in patterns that never repeat. Mesmerising, and a lesson in chaos theory.

Infinity cube. Eight hinged metal blocks that fold endlessly in your fingers. Silent, so it works in meetings. How to use one.

Precision spinning top. A machined metal top that spins for minutes on a flat surface. How to spin a top.

Metal fidgets. Gear-and-chain fidgets, push sliders and flip fidgets — small, heavy and satisfying, they live on the desk or in a pocket.

What makes a good desk toy

• Metal over plastic. Heavier feels better and lasts.
• Quiet — or at least, pleasant to hear.
• Looks good when it is not moving. A desk toy spends most of its life as an ornament.
• No instructions needed. Anyone who picks it up should know what to do.

As a gift

Executive desk toys are classic gifts for a new job, a promotion, a retirement, a boss or the colleague who has everything — useful, unexpected and impossible to leave alone. Desk toys for adults · Gifts for men who have everything.