I’m thinking a watch, Kate Spade or Coach, not too trendy. (FYI she has modest diamond studs that she doesn’t wear, a Pandora bangle she wears on special occasions, and wears only the necklace her boyfriend gave her). Budget is about $200 since she just got a car and I have to buy her a laptop for college
Questions:
Good idea, or maybe something else?
Pick one, or let her pick?
TIA
-K
Ask her if she wants a watch, and if she does, let her pick. Many people don’t wear watches anymore, so she may not want one.
We got our DD her college laptop for her 18th birthday, and a case of her choice.
Maybe you can give your DD a nice laptop backpack or case…her choice.
Watches are pretty popular with my twenty-somethings and their pals…S has 4 and wants more, not sure how many D has. Lots of employers do not want them using iphones on the job. Guessing that may be true for some professors as well??
Our D is pretty minimalist so she requested a small crossbody bag. We got her something like this, although I forget the specific version. It’s just big enough for her iPhone 6 and a small wallet. She loves it.
Whatever you get, and regardless of whether she or you pick it out, consider personalizing it with an engraving-especially a nice sentiment along with initials. I think that makes such a difference.
Also, even though it may seem passé, what about a nice album (not virtual) made by a parent or caretaker-not professionally made-to accompany the watch (or whatever). These are things that will hold their value to your daughter long after her current car is a distant memory.
Just make sure she likes it first! Personalized items are usually not returnable.
Does she wear an activity tracker? I am loving my new Alta fitbit. It is much narrower than some other fitbits. It is a watch, also. $139. True, not an heirloom, although many of us no longer have the luggage our parents bought us for h.s. graduation or18th birthday.
If she just got a car, I’d buy her a $100 gift card to a car wash place-the good places that wash your car inside and out.
That way her car won’t turn into a rolling garbage can 
It takes a LOT of time and effort to keep your car clean (I know; I’m a neatfreak who likes to wash and wax her own car-it takes me 4-5 hours each time I do it).
She sounds very practical (ie not wearing fancy or expensive stuff), so she may appreciate a gift that says “have fun with your free time instead of washing your car”
And if she’s going off to college, I’d buy her another $100 gift card to Starbucks, or whatever the food place of her choice is.
@anomander she has a similar one, black Coach. But that’s an idea
@lostaccount I like the album idea a lot-so much of our kids’ lives is in the cloud now, it might be cool to have something tangible like that.
Someone here on the forum gave us the idea of 18 gifts for the 18th birthday a few years ago. So, we did this for D. Gave her gifts during the day - nothing really big, but things that had a special meaning for her. She loved giraffes - got a giraffe t-shirt. Loved neon green as a color - got a rain jacket in that color. Gave her a family picture plaque that she could take to college. A voter registration form. Candy that she liked. With each gift, we included one letter of the alphabet- at the end, when she had all 18 letters, they spelt out a special message. Was a lot of fun!
Now, S is turning 18 in a couple of months. We are busy putting together the 18 gifts for him - unfortunately, since he’s away at school, we are going to mail the packages to him. So, won’t have the pleasure of seeing him open them 
After the graduation expenses, already getting them cars, the new laptops for college, and the four years of tuition on us, we didn’t worry too much about other gifts. I think I got one an iPad like device, and the other money to offset the amount he was going to have to pay for his beach week. I wish I was as creative as some of you.
My D requested a watch for her 18th and we went shopping together. She ended up with (I think) a Michael Kors watch from TJ Maxx that ran about $150. It is NOT the style I would have chosen so I’m glad she picked it out herself as she wears it nearly all the time (well, at least when I see her).
My D’s friend had a similar type of experience that @arisamp mentioned for her 16th birthday. She recieved 16 little gifts - the 16th was something that had 16 items (a 16 pack of crayons I believe), 15 (pack of 15 contact cases) (12 was Poptarts, 9 pairs of underwear, 6 pairs of socks, 5 packs of gum, 2 was a pair of earings, etc…), all the way down to 1 - which was a shutterfly photo book of her first 16 years. One of the numbers the mom was struggling with (I believe it was 11 or 13) and she asked friends and relatives to write her a note or a piece of advice – then she had 11 (or 13)nice notes. It was fun to watch her open so many gifts - most were useful but also funny and she didn’t quite understand the pattern for the first few so it seemed like just random things. Once we all caught on to the pattern we were guessing what the next might be. It made it a little more special, was not a lot of $, and it was fun. It was a good way to counteract the sweet 16 party the week before where their friend received a new car.
Kendra Scott earrings in the color of the college she will be attending. www.kendrascott.com Or, diamond studs. I only have boys but these are things I would have liked…lol
I would also caution against the monogramming unless you are very, very sure she would like that. My 18 year old D would cringe at the thought of something monogrammed - as would I for me - just not my thing!!!
OK folks, so what are the “in” watches among young women that age group?
My D doesn’t wear a watch, but I notice many young women her age wearing very bling-y watches – gold and jewel encrusted. Most must be fake, because real would be in the $50K and up range.
You can get a nice pair of pearl stud earrings for $200.