Steampunk Gifts for Him: Gears, Brass and Pocket Watches

Steampunk imagines a world where the Victorian age never ended and steam power took over everything — airships, brass goggles, clockwork and gears showing through every surface. The term was coined by the science-fiction writer K. W. Jeter in 1987, half as a joke, and it grew into a whole style of fiction, costume and design.

The problem with steampunk gifts is that most of them are costume: they look good at a convention and then live in a box. The test for a real gift is simple: will he carry it, use it or keep it on his desk on an ordinary Tuesday?

What makes something steampunk?

• Visible mechanism. Gears, springs and chains that you can see working.
• Warm metals. Brass, bronze and copper, preferably a little aged.
• Victorian objects. Pocket watches, compasses, quill pens, goggles, top hats.
• Craft over plastic. Things that look made, not moulded.

The gifts below tick at least two of those, and every one of them works outside a costume.

For his pocket

• A gear-and-chain fidget. Two metal gears joined by a real roller chain. Turn one gear and the chain runs round; push it along the desk and it rolls. It is steampunk distilled into something that fits in a palm — and for the man who takes things apart to see how they work, it is irresistible.
• A steampunk pocket watch. An open gear-work cover over a Roman-numeral dial, in antique bronze, on a long chain. It is quartz, so it keeps time without winding — the look of a Victorian watch with none of the fuss. How to wear a pocket watch.
• A pocket compass. An antique bronze case with a hinged lid and a real, working needle — the navigator's instrument for an imaginary airship. How to use a compass.

For his desk

• A quill pen with brass nibs. For signing letters, writing in a journal, or simply the pleasure of dipping a pen in ink. How to write with a quill pen.
• An antique-brass coin spinner. A six-sided lucky coin that spins on the desk like a top.
• A memento mori coin. Hourglass, skulls and a Roman-numeral clock face in antique silver. Victorian taste ran to the beautifully morbid; this fits right in. Hourglass meaning.

For his table

• An antique bronze dice spinner for the man who plays tabletop games.
• The Pirate King deck. Hand-drawn courts on aged stock, for the steampunk fan whose tastes run to sky pirates.

Steampunk gifts by kind of man

Steampunk Christmas gifts

Pair two small pieces for a gift that looks considered: a pocket watch and a compass, or a quill pen and a memento mori coin, wrapped in brown paper and string for the Victorian touch. For more along these lines, see gifts for history buffs and gifts for men who have everything.