Do you know someone who is tired of going to work every day and looking at the same old office and desk? The holiday season is a great time to help spruce up work spaces with some new desk and office accessories.
Writing instruments
B. Collins Pens (318 S. Dearborn St., 312-431-1888) has a variety of unique pens. Namiki makes a fountain pen for $95 that has a retractable tip so it works like a ballpoint pen. You’ll also find Cross’ newest line of pens and pencils–the Metropolis line. They’re ribbed along the barrel for a sure feel and are priced from $30 to $90.
For a touch of class, LeBoeuf introduces a new pen called the LePrix that features flashy racing-car colors of red, yellow, blue or black. Each pen is topped with a Australian opal. Fountain and ballpoint pens are available from $175 to $315. They’re also at B. Collins.
The Montblanc Boutique (900 N. Michigan Ave., 312-943-1200) has a couple of new pens worth checking out. In September, Montblanc released its 1997 Writers Series Limited Edition, which honors Russian novelist Feodor Dostoevsky, whose signature appears in gold on the fountain pen ($750), roller-ball ($475), ballpoint ($375) and mechanical pencil ($375).
For your office or for traveling, there’s the LeGrand Traveller fountain pen ($375 at the Montblanc Boutique) that is designed to withstand changes in atmospheric pressure without leaks. The pen comes packaged in a leather pouch with six extra ink cartridges.
Marshall Field’s stores have a nifty Montblanc gift box for opera buffs: Inside the 8-inch black Hommage A Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart box, you’ll find either a Montblanc ballpoint ($165) or fountain pen ($265), plus a special compact disc of Mozart’s music. These are special small pens to take with you to the opera.
Desk accessories
Montblanc’s Leather Collection, available at the Michigan Avenue boutique, includes new memo pads–attractive leather cases for Post-It Notes in two sizes, priced at $60 and $95. To get organized, there’s the Montblanc Large Organizer ($475) with an oversize calendar and pocket space for storage.
The Colorado Pen Co. (Woodfield Mall, 847-619-7361) stocks more than just a fine line of pens. From Spain, they’ve imported the El Casino line of products including a stapler ($120), a rocker blotter ($78) and a pencil sharpener that looks like an old-fashioned coffee grinder ($218). All feature a chrome finish.
If you’d like the El Casino sharpener in gold plating ($218), visit Executive Essentials (Woodfield Mall, 847-619-PENS or 800-680-PENS). The store also has some clever paperweights made by Hafod Grange and imported from England.
The four Chicago-area Bentley’s Luggage & Gifts stores (including Woodfield Mall, 847-517-7605) have an attractive and functional desk pad–the Old Leather Collection from Bosca of Ohio. It features genuine padded leather and a “zero memory” writing surface that on’t indent from use. It comes in six colors and is priced at $135.
If you know someone who is constantly updating his or her address book, the FlexAddress Life Time Address Book and FlexApeel Address Pages are great items to help make this task less of a chore. These address books and organizers feature pages with peel-away entry spaces which can be updated easily and replaced with new ones. For example, when Mary Jones becomes Mary Smith, just peel away the “J” entry and stick her new info under “S.” Books range from $24.95 to $145, which includes enough pages for 200 address entries; additional pages are $12 and $18.95. Available at Deutsch Luggage (39 W. Van Buren St., 312-939-2935) and Atlas Stationers (227 W. Lake St., 312-726-5261) or call 800-221-0431 to order or for other locations.
Clocks
Executive Essentials has a desk clock featuring world time and a top view of the globe with a blinking plane flying over it. It’s made by Seiko and is priced at $300.
At Brookstone stores, check out the square-shaped Rotation Clock ($25), which can be rotated to change functions–from alarm clock to calendar to regular time to countdown timer. You’ll also get the day of the week and the year.
A clock with a separate photo holder is just $15.
Finally, Brookstone has a world time clock, paperweight and magnifier combination for $7.50. It’s made of two glass rings, and as the top ring turns, it tells you the time in another part of the world; lift off the ring and it becomes a magnifying glass.
Cigar accessories
Brookstone has the Excalibur solid cherry humidor ($230) to preserve and age 50 to 75 cigars, or a burled wood humidor ($349) lined with cedar. Nordstrom stores are featuring handcrafted humidors for $255 in their gift gallery.
Brookstone also has the Cigar Savor to store unfinished cigars and reform the tips before smoking them again. It comes in black ($30), brown leather ($85) and sterling silver ($200).
Trim your cigar ends with Colibri’s Winston Churchill model fold-out cutter ($115), available at Executive Essentials. It’s a combination lighter and cutter that folds up into the base.
Discover more about cigars with the third edition of “The Cigar Companion” by Anwer Bati. It’s available at many bookstores for $25.
