What to give, by relationship

The Eidi problem

For younger cousins and nieces, jewellery competes with cash, and cash usually wins on the day. But a small piece — a thin chain, a pair of studs, a simple ring — is the thing still around in five years, and children remember who gave them their first proper piece of anything.

If you go this route, buy steel rather than plated. A child's first chain gets worn in a swimming pool within a month, and plated brass does not come back from that.

Getting the sizing right without asking

• Chains are the safe category. 40–45 cm for women, 50–55 cm for men, and neither has a wrong answer.
• Bracelets are nearly as safe. Measure one they own, flat, or estimate 17–19 cm for women and 20–22 cm for men.
• Rings are the risky one. Borrow one from the right finger and measure the inner diameter, or press it into a bar of soap. US 6–7 is the most common women's range if you have nothing.
• Earrings need no sizing at all, but they cannot be exchanged once opened. Only buy them if you are confident about the style.

Giving it well

1. 1Ask for the invoice without prices. We do this on request and so does any decent seller. A gift with a price on it is a receipt.
2. 2Give it before Eid morning if it is something to wear. Half the pleasure of a piece of jewellery at Eid is wearing it on the day.
3. 3Do not present a ring in a ring box unless you mean what a ring box means. This has caused more than one uncomfortable Eid.
4. 4Keep the packaging until they have tried it on. It makes an exchange painless if the size is out.
5. 5If it needs exchanging afterwards, message +92 334 4008322 with the order number — post-Eid exchanges are quieter and faster than pre-Eid ones.

Nobody remembers what a gift cost. They remember that it fit, that it suited them, and that it turned up on time.

What to give, by relationship

The Eidi problem

For younger cousins and nieces, jewellery competes with cash, and cash usually wins on the day. But a small piece — a thin chain, a pair of studs, a simple ring — is the thing still around in five years, and children remember who gave them their first proper piece of anything.

If you go this route, buy steel rather than plated. A child's first chain gets worn in a swimming pool within a month, and plated brass does not come back from that.

Getting the sizing right without asking

• Chains are the safe category. 40–45 cm for women, 50–55 cm for men, and neither has a wrong answer.
• Bracelets are nearly as safe. Measure one they own, flat, or estimate 17–19 cm for women and 20–22 cm for men.
• Rings are the risky one. Borrow one from the right finger and measure the inner diameter, or press it into a bar of soap. US 6–7 is the most common women's range if you have nothing.
• Earrings need no sizing at all, but they cannot be exchanged once opened. Only buy them if you are confident about the style.

Giving it well

1. 1Ask for the invoice without prices. We do this on request and so does any decent seller. A gift with a price on it is a receipt.
2. 2Give it before Eid morning if it is something to wear. Half the pleasure of a piece of jewellery at Eid is wearing it on the day.
3. 3Do not present a ring in a ring box unless you mean what a ring box means. This has caused more than one uncomfortable Eid.
4. 4Keep the packaging until they have tried it on. It makes an exchange painless if the size is out.
5. 5If it needs exchanging afterwards, message +92 334 4008322 with the order number — post-Eid exchanges are quieter and faster than pre-Eid ones.

Nobody remembers what a gift cost. They remember that it fit, that it suited them, and that it turned up on time.