Gift pick
Hand-blown in Poland, these jewel-toned flutes come in a dozen hues, and they’re perfect as a celebratory, whimsical splurge. Consider a matching pair of colored flutes for smaller celebrations.
When a high school friend bought her first home, I wanted to get her something celebratory and fancy—the kind of thing that she wouldn’t buy herself. I also didn’t really want to spend more than $100. So she got two Estelle Champagne Flutes, in emerald green. If she didn’t live across the country, she’d also have gotten a bottle of bubbly to go along with them.
I didn’t get a “thank you.” Instead, she texted “!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” along with a photo of the flutes on her new kitchen table—a beacon of elegance and order amid the moving bedlam of half-opened boxes and tangled extension cords. Success. She has since told me that the flutes are among her favorite possessions, and they always remind her of the happy, chaotic early days in their new home.
Next, I sent the flutes to a friend who was welcoming a new baby on her own. This was a slightly riskier send since she doesn’t drink. She is, however, an art school graduate whose apartment is so impeccably decorated that it was featured in Martha Stewart Living. I’m familiar with her relationship to beautiful things. And we’d talked before about how half the fun of drinking is the glassware—the coupes, the snifters, the highballs—so I had a hunch.
I sent the flutes, this time in blush pink to match the walls of her magazine-worthy bedroom. “These are the most beautiful glasses I’ve ever owned,” she wrote—high praise from a person with exquisite taste. I’ve yet to meet her son, but when I do, I imagine us toasting with flutes of seltzer, a raspberry floating in each.
Since good things come in threes, there’s one final chapter to this gift-giving odyssey. A couple months back, my colleague Alex Aciman reached out about finding a more-sensitive gift. His dear friend had just finalized her divorce: What would be appropriate? You can guess where this is headed.
Alex bought her four flutes: two smoke gray and two pink. “This is the best divorce present I could have asked for,” she shared. His friend lives on an island in Maine, and I like to think of her raising a glass to her new chapter, surrounded by good friends, oysters, and some newfound peace.
I’ve since learned that Estelle Colored Glass is a Black woman–owned business started by Stephanie Summerson Hall. She began the South Carolina–based company in homage to her grandmother, who loved pretty things.
Estelle pieces are hand-blown by artisans in Poland, and the craftsmanship shows in the quality. The glasses are tall yet not unwieldy. They have a perfect angular bowl, so they’re less tippy. And all of the ones I’ve seen have clear, bubble-free glass. They can’t go in the dishwasher, but they’re so delightful that the extra few minutes it takes to hand-wash them is worth it.
But why are colorful flutes such a perfect gift? I’ve given this a lot of thought. For one thing, even if someone already has Champagne flutes—and many people do not—they probably don’t have colored flutes in such tastefully gorgeous tones. So, you’re almost assuredly getting someone something they don’t already have.
Second is what I call the funfetti effect: Multicolored things feel immediately celebratory, evoking parties, confetti, balloons, and so many ephemeral things we associate with happy occasions. Only Champagne flutes last longer than sprinkles.
There’s a special kind of unbridled optimism in giving someone flutes. They promise a toast, the clink of two glasses, the implicit assurance of good times to come. In an overscheduled, increasingly digital world where we could all use more connection and small moments, and a lot less junk, these joyously hued Champagne flutes demand it, one fizz at a time.
This article was edited by Katie Okamoto and Catherine Kast.
