<p>I remember a thread on something called ecco watches, but I’ll be darned if I can find it. We got my older son a very nice watch, I think as a gift from my parents, but he didn’t like it because it was too nice! He preferred a tough outdoorsy one that he could depend on while backpacking.</p>
<p>I LOVE the belt buckle! I’m bookmarking this for later use. I have an '09 grad turning 20 next month so this may be a nice birthday gift next year at 21? FWIW, I agree that engraving is nice. For graduation we’ll be giving our 2011 grad a very 'un’sentimental smartphone with service during college. He’s not great at checking email, and there are several apps his school uses that should be pretty useful for him. He desperately needs a new phone anyway and this was his choice.</p>
<p>I happen to love the idea of a nice watch as well, but I know he wouldn’t wear it at this point so it might be a better college graduation gift.</p>
<p>A laptop for school and a big party is the standard gift here for HS. My sister got one with all the bells and whistles for graphic design work since that’s something she’s into. A car to use for school (read: to /use/, not own) is also typical since community college is a requirement in this family.</p>
<p>Laptop, party and paying for college.</p>
<p>But before she left in August, I gave her a Photo album that i made on Shutterfly - a personal high school yearbook from all four years including all of her friends. To get the best shots, this requires getting pix from your child’s camera or computer if they are also a photographer. I combined family events, road trips to visit colleges, class trips and school activities and events, and added song lyrics where appropriate. By completing it after graduation I was able to include pictures from the ceremony and party to end the book. It’s a nice, compact reminder of home.</p>
<p>One-hour flight lesson in a small plane. If I’m lucky, she won’t ask the pilot to buzz our house. It costs $105 and the memories should be priceless.</p>
<p>For her first Christmas at college I’ll make her a calendar with a picture of her friends for every month, so she’ll have this all through the year. Any local print shop can make this up.</p>
<p>One of my sisters gave S1 a monogrammed Brooks Brothers silver belt buckle & belt for his 8th grade(!) graduation. I thought it was a bit much for a 14 year old… but it is a classic gift and he got a lot of use out of it before outgrowing it. Maybe I’ll get him a replacement leather strap for the buckle…in the next size up - LOL! :o</p>
<p>My mother in law gave my senior son a Rolex watch which was belongs to my father in law, who passed away few years ago. A Rolex watch is not for teenage boy, but my son loves it very much, because he knows it was from grandpa. He only wear the watch when he come home from school. I love to watch him every night, before he goes to bed, he looks at the watch, clean it and adjust the time, and put it on the night stand very carefully.</p>
<p>Just a comment re: the picture calendars. I’ve given DS#1 an August-July calendar each year. (Actually had it mailed to school so it’d be waiting for him.) I use Kodak Gallery and try to gear the pictures each month to a similar time from last year (e.g., pics from last year’s Thanksgiving for November).</p>
<p>And re: watches that kids will actually wear (although mine never have/never will), one of my brothers works on Wall Street and apparently ugly black rubber watches (think like Nike sports watch) are what all the investment bankers wear. (My sis-in-law is not happy that nobody wears the Rolexes, etc. they all have sitting at home. She thinks they’re all trying to demonstrate they’re still somewhat athletic or something.) (Although I love the idea of an old family watch. My sister wears the Rolex that my mom gave my dad as a morning gift when they got married.)</p>
<p>Check out what Hank Paulson, former head of Goldman Sachs was wearing (I think that it was a Congressional hearing):</p>
<p><a href=“http://cdn.benzinga.com/files/hank-paulson.jpg[/url]”>http://cdn.benzinga.com/files/hank-paulson.jpg</a></p>
![http://cdn.benzinga.com/files/hank-paulson.jpg[/url]](http://cdn.benzinga.com/files/hank-paulson.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>That’s a Timex Ironman 100 Flix watch that’s about $40 at WalMart. That’s my sports watch - 5 alarms, 100 lap counters, it will store phone numbers, countdown timer, dual time-zone. And you can set it to illuminate when you flick your wrist. The multiple alarms can be useful if you have a lot of meetings.</p>
<p>A watch idea for those with a more modern European taste, is Mondaine’s Classic Swiss Railways watch, based on actual Swiss railway clocks:
available on many websites including MOMA:
[MoMA</a> Store - Swiss Railway Watch Big Case](<a href=“http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Swiss%20Railway%20Watch%20Big%20Case_10451_10001_14081_-1_22158____13023]MoMA”>http://www.momastore.org/museum/moma/ProductDisplay_Swiss%20Railway%20Watch%20Big%20Case_10451_10001_14081_-1_22158____13023)</p>
<p>So much depends on the kid. The Worm would have liked the Timex watch. He got tuition and a laptop. When he graduated college, he was offered the watch again. A year later, while in Zurich, he bought a watch, as a delayed gift. He wouldn’t have wanted the Tiffany belt, but later appreciated the Prada one because of the hammered leather. If there had been sentiment attached to a family heirloom, I’m sure the picture would be different.
Oh–After getting into grad school, he was happy to have family trip.</p>
<p>I look at expensive gifts as suggestions, and he can cash in the I.O.U. s when he is ready.</p>
<p>SEM–I really like that watch!! I may borrow that idea for someone else</p>
<p>Our graduation gift for our son was a small grad party at an inexpensive restaurant with his friends and a few small stuffs that he needed to take to his dorm. He was pretty happy with that.</p>
<p>BCEagle - Yes - that’s the watch that both of my son’s have! I’ve been buying Ironman watches for years. The band falls apart before the watch stops working.</p>
<p>We bought our daughter a movado watch. It’s a keepsake and one she can wear for interviews, internships, or just because. I also gave her a bracelet from Tiffanys.</p>
<p>[Tiffany</a> & Co. | Item | Toggle bracelet of black onyx beads with sterling silver. | United States](<a href=“http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=21240745&mcat=148204&cid=287458&search_params=s+5-p+43-c+287458-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+-k+]Tiffany”>http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/Item.aspx?fromGrid=1&sku=21240745&mcat=148204&cid=287458&search_params=s+5-p+43-c+287458-r+-x+-n+6-ri+-ni+0-t+-k+)</p>
<p>It’s a black onxy bracelet. Classic yet young. not too expensive</p>
<p>For more inexpensive watches, Skagen does a nice range</p>
<p>I bought my first Ironman Flix when they came out and replaced the battery after about five years. Then the band went and I replaced that (it’s a fair amount of work and tools help). Then one of the buttons fell off and the remaining edge snagged things. So I bought a second one for my son when he didn’t wake up on time for an early morning class. He didn’t want it so I’m using it myself. The model I have has really huge numbers so that I can read it without glasses - important as I don’t wear glasses when I workout.</p>
<p>I just got my gifts. I got an SLK for use when I am home, rolex, laptop, and my parents are paying for college.</p>
<p>Our sons were much less formal in their style during hs, so they each received a party, dorm essentials, and a really nice, rugged backpack that fit everything including huge textbooks and laptop. Check ebags.com for a great selection. Our oldest just graduated college and he still uses the backpack…even takes it to the office as he brings a laptop and other small items. Serves as his man-purse for now lol</p>