13 Great Graduation Gifts to Celebrate the Milestone Achievement

This article was produced in partnership with Leatherman 

From loans to rent and maybe even car repairs, cash may be what 2023’s graduates need—but stuffing a few bills into an envelope isn’t as fun as a thoughtful gift. Done well, the best gifts for grads are the ones they'll actually find useful. You might even get a text about it.

Those entering the workforce might not know what FSA is, and that’s where your experience comes in. The right gifts make that transition and the routine of going to work easier, more foolproof, and maybe even more enjoyable. Finding and starting a job is plenty stressful without worrying about what bag looks professional enough, how to pull off that Friday happy hour look straight from the office, or making DIY fixes at a (new) home.

Whether your grad is headed to an office in the city, starting remote work from a new apartment, or still looking, there are basics all professionals need to ease into a new stage of life. We’ve gathered 13 gifts for new grads that no right-minded (and most likely cash-strapped) recipient would turn down. You won’t even need to keep the gift receipt.

Best Gifts for College Grads to Mark the Occasion

Give a grad moving into their first apartment the tools to handle repairs without relying on a building manager. Rebar is a pliers-based tool that can help upgrade old outlets to USB versions and handle basic screws. The flathead driver can pop open cans of paint or scrape crusty caulk. Maybe your grad will take on building projects around the house and yard to decompress from the work week. Time spent working with your hands is rarely wasted.

They don't need to be a West Point grad to appreciate the classic styling and proportions of a field watch. The 38mm case, which fits small- to medium-width wrists, has an easy-to-read face with a color scheme of silver, black, and tan that's reminiscent of Hamilton’s 1960s mechanical versions. Gift this and a few extra NATO bands, so they can update the look. And if their new boss has a military background, the Hamilton’s face makes it easy to report to meetings at 15:00—better yet, a few minutes early.

The first commuting habit that gets expensive fast is the coffee shop stop. New grads should realize they can make a better brew at home for much less, and this battery-powered 12-ounce mug will keep it anywhere from a warm 120 degrees to a ripping-hot 140 degrees thanks to a built-in battery. A touch display makes adjustments easy. They can keep a dock at the office so coffee or tea stays warm through all those meetings.

If your new grad has a busy commute, and maybe hasn’t memorized all the long presses, taps, and swipes modern earbuds require just to take a call and skip a track, the small touchscreen on JBL Tour Pro 2 can help. It puts virtually all the controls from the app on the case so they can stash their phone. The earbuds are comfortable enough to wear all day and active noise canceling is a dream in a bustling office. Because these pair to multiple devices, your grad can seamlessly jump from voice calls on a smartphone to video calls on a laptop.

Micra is incredibly useful in the day to day. Not much bigger than a car fob, its spring-loaded scissors cut open just about any meal kit or package—and its 1.6-inch straight blade slices through plastic clamshell packaging with ease. Micra’s screwdrivers excel at twisting out the smaller fasteners you find on today’s tech and watches, which require the most precision to remove.

Make life easier for a new grad with one bag that covers a lot of bases. This 20-liter backpack can hold lunch, a laptop, and gadgets. It has clean lines and fits right in at the office. A clamshell opening makes it easy to load up with a day's worth of essentials (e.g. laptop, lunch, gym clothes). It can even be stuffed with a few compression bags and a Dopp kit for a three-day weekend. Looking for something more sizable? Bellroy’s 28L is perfect as a personal item to carry on flights.

Docking tech at home or the office keeps a phone, Apple Watch, and earbuds charged and easy to see while only requiring one outlet. This 2.5-inch-tall Anker cube also holds a MagSafe iPhone at a comfortable and adjustable angle, up to 60 degrees, so they can see incoming texts or Slacks without picking it up to unlock facial recognition. At just over a half-pound, it travels well to declutter a hotel’s nightstand.

The chino is a staple piece of workwear that looks great, but the standard cotton pair could use a more modern fit. This version from Duer has five pockets, a tapered leg, and comes in nine colors, so you’re sure to find one that fits your grad's personal style. The cotton relies on lyocell to wick moisture and just enough lycra to encourage mobility without feeling like they're wearing yoga pants. They can bike to work, crush a meeting, then meet friends for happy hour.

You could gift a toolbox worth of gear or this 8.5-ounce jack of all trades. The reversible bit driver handles full-size screws while a micro takes on those tiny ones on the underside of a computer or camera. Three full-size blades are included, each about 3 inches long. If your new grad likes to spend time outdoors, this is a no-brainer to take on camping or bike-packing trips.

Learning the ropes at a new job often comes with putting in some extra hours away from the office. This unassuming USB-A to Lightning cable can help transfer work from a phone or laptop to a computer at the office. It has 128GB of internal storage so they can pull content from Apple devices onto it—like offloading photos and video—to share with another Apple user. It also works to charge devices like a traditional cable.

New apartment? This one box can power most of the gadgets that still require batteries. Rechargeable through a USB-C cable, Pale Blue cells are rated for more than 1,000 recharges to run things like remote controls, toothbrushes, and alarm clocks. The kit includes AA, AAA, square 9Vs, and four D batteries—which means you might want to gift these with a Maglite flashlight to help in a power outage, or act as a door stop.

Umbrellas suck: They slow you down on crowded city streets, until you forget them somewhere altogether. This rain shell is soft and the branding is minimal so they can wear it to the office without giving off “stoked” vibes. As the name implies, Kühl's Stretch Voyagr Jacket is stretchy, too, so it can be worn hiking, biking, or climbing. The breathable shell helps quell that clammy feeling.

Unlike typical polymer lenses, Kaenon uses glass so they're scratch-resistant and don't need to be babied. They also weigh less than comparable sunglasses. A mirrored coating inside the lens can’t be scuffed off, so these are technical enough to wear on a boat or bike ride but with a Wayfarer-like aesthetic that doesn’t look out of place running errands or sight-seeing. For true work-to-play functionality, go for the matte black frames and grey lenses; for something more sporty, opt for these coastal green lenses.