Gift Guide: Six Gifts For The Disruptor

We pick six innovative products to give to the agent of change in your life.

By Kristen Shirley

Contributor

Disruptors and their dreams shape our worlds. They challenge the status quo and create perfectly designed objects to improve our lives. Thanks to our friends, the always-disruptive watchmakers at Ulysse Nardin, we have six of our favorite disruptive objects.

Ulysse Nardin BLAST

Ulysse Nardin is known for its daring, avant-garde designs and innovative technology, and the new BLAST watch embodies the brand’s disruptive style.

The New Ulysse Nardin BLAST Black

The 45mm watch has a sharp, geometric design with X-shaped and rectangular bridges in contrasting colors that stand out from the skeletonized movement. It features the UN-173 movement, which has an automatic tourbillon at 6 o’clock that is powered by a platinum micro-rotor at 12 o’clock.

The New Ulysse Nardin BLAST Blue

The X in the design signifies Ulysse Nardin’s search for the x-factor, whether that be a groundbreaking new movement or material, a new design, or a new adventure.

The New Ulysse Nardin BLAST Rose Gold

Available now from Ulysse Nardin for $46,000 in white, blue, or all-black, and for $54,000 in rose gold

Discover the Ulysse Nardin BLAST Collection

Transparent Speaker

This eye-catching speaker gives new meaning to transparency. Not only is it see-through, but it has a superb sound called transparent sound, which is tuned to be as faithful a reproduction as possible to the musician’s original recording.

The Transparent Speaker has a custom-designed 6” woofer, is streaming compatible with Apple AirPlay, Sonos, Amazon Echo, and Google Cast, and the modular design means new components can be added as technology evolves, so it’ll never become obsolete.

Available now from Transparent for $1,100

Alfred Giraud French Malt Whisky

The perfect gift for a whisky lover who has tried it all, Alfred Giraud blends generations of cognac expertise with a spirit of innovation to create France’s first luxury whisky.

Its master blenders use cognac production techniques and age different malt distillates in previously used extra-old cognac barrels to create Heritage, a complex and elegant whisky with notes of brioche and nutmeg.

Available now from Reserve Bar for $155

Bansky Captured Volume Two by Steve Lazarides

Perhaps the ultimate disruptor, Bansky has shocked the art world with his graffiti artwork and wild antics for decades.

This limited-edition coffee table book from Steve Lazarides, Banksy’s former photographer and right-hand man, features unpublished photos of Banksy’s artwork from his golden period in the late ‘90s and early 2000s alongside the backstories from the man who witnessed it all.

Bansky Captured Volume Two by Steve Lazarides

Available now from Laz Emporium for £125 (approx $165)

Crucial Detail Porthole Infuser

Grant Achatz has revolutionized fine dining and cocktail culture in the US with his three-Michelin-starred restaurant, Alinea, and inventive lounge, The Aviary, where desserts are edible balloons and drinks are accompanied by smoking dry ice.

The Porthole was first created as a custom piece for The Aviary’s expert mixologist, but at home, it can infuse cocktails, spirits, and even oils.

Available now from Crucial Detail for $125

Castore x McLaren Automotive Sportswear

Two British powerhouses team up for McLaren Automotive’s first men’s sportswear collection.

Castore translated McLaren’s focus on supercar performance, ultra-lightweight materials, and streamlined design into a wearable collection with bonded seams, sonic-welded construction, and ergonomic cuts.

Castore x McLaren Automotive Sportswear

The pieces also have a mesh construction to improve cooling and ventilation and have an almost weightless feel.

Available now from Castore from $95

Oculus Quest 2 Virtual Reality Headset

Help them escape 2020 with Oculus’s Virtual Reality Headset. It features the company’s most advanced VR system, which doesn’t require a PC or console.

It has an ultra-fast processor, the company’s highest-resolution display, and 3D cinematic sound, so users can meet up with friends in VR or watch live concerts and movies and feel like they are there.