Ideas for Wife's 60th Prezzie please. RESULT

My wife has a significant Birthday next month, and obviously lockdown has put on hold/killed most ideas. No party etc.
My wife bought me an extravagant experience type present for mine a couple of years ago so I need to impress a little if I can. At our age we don’t really want “things” any more
She was interested in an African Safari or a trip to see the Northern Lights, which we may be able to do in the future. But at the moment no plans can be made.
Any ideas, of things I haven’t thought of would be welcome.

I am investigating a bottle of Wine or Port from the year of her birth, which could be a bit special. She has a nice watch, She has some nice jewellery, so I’m not sure about that.
I need a few ideas to celebrate the day with a view to a holiday or similar at a later date.

Any ideas welcome please.

Colly.

Are there any special restaurants/chef…and i don’t mean the local Indian that could deliver a 5 star meal?
If you want some very special jewellery i can recommend giving Catherine Best a call-in Guernsey. Have a look at her website, she could make a very nice African style piece of jewellery, earings, necklace…you name it, she is a world class designer.

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We don’t do Xmas so try to make Birthdays special. We also try to do an event (which is clearly difficult just now) or something a bit different rather than more obvious stuff. It is not about value but seeking out something you’d never buy yourself. It all comes out of the joint account anyway!

My wife has a small amount of nice jewellery so for her 50th I commissioned a box from the chap below. It has her initials and a message and it is absolutely beautifully made, and of course unique. Other big successes over the years have been first editions of favourite books and a print I sourced from America by one of her favourite authors who is also an artist.

Bruce

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Thanks for that, Books and Prints are worth exploring.

How about a new cartridge for your Aro😉

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I was wondering about a new ironing board, but the cartridge is a far better idea.

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I would still like to living by Christmas.

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Something like a Premium Bag , or Cosmetics?

A Nice dinner with good wine by candle light is always good.

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Abe Books a good place to start looking for signed or First Editions

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How about a zoom chat with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to wish her a happy birthday.

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Depending on if / what kind of music she likes, rent a string quartet / piano trio (if you have a piano) for a concert for 2 at home. If you cant have 3 or 4 musicians in your house, only a good pianist for the evening is both financially and corona safe quite possible I guess.

You do well by this as well, in my network many violists / pianists saw all their concerts cancelled in this corona period and in my experience they are happy to do it.

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If you both enjoy food, you can never go wrong with a very fine dining experience. Looking back, the memories most talked about are experiences rather than a piece of jewellery, etc.

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If she has an even passing interest in art, how about looking for something she likes, perhaps together? Or even commission something if you know the sort of thing she appreciates?

Perhaps a rare print, which will also be an appreciating asset as a present!

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Or to go one stage further, staying somewhere like Claridges and going downstairs to dine is unforgettable. Depends on your budget/taste. We’ve done Claridges, Berkeley/Marcus Wareing, etc and it does seem a little obscene at the time tbh, but it is rather fun. Even the negatives (if any) are talking points years later.

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How about sponsoring an endangered animal, in your wife’s name, from the African country you are thinking of taking a safari in, as a hint/promise of things to come when we are allowed out to play again.

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We’ve done similar things at Le Manoir au Quat’ Saisons and The Waterside Inn at Bray. The former is a posh hotel and a two Michelin Star dinner, the latter is a room above the restaurant and a three Michelin Star dinner. There are quite a few similarly good around. But it depends where you live obviously.

Best

David

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Getting a bit close to Strippergram territory perhaps. :sweat_smile:

Yes we dined at Le Manoir and it was superb, although we didn’t stay there. Instead we stayed at a dump close by, which taught us a lesson, but there again, we didn’t have the budget at the time.

The Waterside Inn has been on the list for years. One day.

The Waterside Inn is really great and the rooms above the restaurant are much less expensive than Le Manoir. They say it’s a restaurant with rooms, French style, and not an hotel with a restaurant. So no staff on call all night, no room service except breakfast and if you want a late night coffee, there is a Nespresso machine near the rooms. It’s a lot less pretentious than Le Manoir and the food is amazing. We love it.

Best

David

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We stayed in one of the Waterside’s cottages for Mrs R’s 40th. It had a glorious elevated view of the Thames through a large picture window.

The dining experience was exceptional. I thought it would be just a posher version of a Michelin 1* that we go to, but it was a class above by some margin.

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