Gifts with a Presidents Day twist: Time in office

 

Johnny Depp has been stepping out for quite a while now with that proper timepiece: the pocket watch. For instance, he had one tucked in his waistcoat at the People's Choice Awards in January.

Many U.S. presidents were known to pocket the status-symbol timepieces too, particularly in gold. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Harry Truman and Franklin D. Roosevelt were among the pocket-watchers. And just a couple of years ago, a long-hidden, secretly engraved Civil War message was unveiled inside Abraham Lincoln's watch.

Like the bow tie, we love the pocket watch as a chic, unexpected extra for women too -- especially this femme design that reinvents a timeless talisman by infusing it with solid perfume in a sensual Spanish jasmine-and-tuberose blend. The open work filigree detailing allows the body's warmth to activate the scent over time. (Shades of Dusk solid perfume jewelry by Joya & Vane, $68 in Royal Jasmine at joyastudio.com/shop).

"This collection captures romance and ritual, blending mythic amulets with fragrance that evokes aphrodisia," said New York designer Frederick Bouchardy. Now just how properly un-presidential is that?

-- Ingrid Schmidt

Upper photo: Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington. Credit: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute

Lower photo:Joya & Vane pocket-watch fragrance. Credit: Joya & Vane

Monday: White House Pet Project