Confirmation Gifts for Boys That Last Past the Party

A confirmation gift has a harder job than most gifts for a teenage boy. The sacrament marks the point where a young man takes on his faith as his own, in front of his family and his parish, with a sponsor standing behind him. He is thirteen, or fifteen, or seventeen. The gift has to be right for him now and still be right when he is forty.

What usually gets bought is a card with a check in it, a pair of earbuds, or something with a cross on it that lands in a drawer next to the one from First Communion. None of these are wrong. They are the wrong scale. The check is spent by June. The earbuds are replaced in eighteen months. The drawer stays shut.

The gifts that last past the party get used and kept: a board that comes out at the kitchen table for thirty years, or a small object from an adult he respects that carries his confirmation name and the date. This guide covers both, and says plainly when neither is the right answer.

Why a keepsake and not the other options

Cash is generous and forgettable. The rosary and the crucifix are proper gifts for the day, and he may well get three of each, because the parish, the grandparents and the sponsor all had the same good idea. The Bible is already on his shelf. The gift card is a check with worse manners. A watch is the traditional adult answer, and a good one costs more than most sponsors want to spend on a boy who will lose it at swim practice. None of these give him something to do with his hands, with another person, that outlasts the season. A marble chess set does. So does a pocket knife his godfather hands him with a few words and then hands to his father to keep for a while.

Engraving, his confirmation name and the timing

The detail that makes a confirmation gift a confirmation gift is the name. He chose a saint's name for the sacrament, and it goes on almost nothing else he will ever own. Put it on the blade of a folding knife with the date and the object explains itself for the rest of his life. Engraving and etching are done in our own Illinois workshop: the confirmation name, the date, the parish, or a short line from the rite. Confirmation season runs from late winter through spring in most dioceses, with a second wave in the fall, and everyone orders in the same six weeks. Buy from stock, send the engraving text with the order, and allow two to three weeks before the Mass. The chess and backgammon sets are not engraved and do not need to be. They are remembered by who gave them.

What to buy

The marble chess set

Start here if you are unsure. A hand-carved marble board is appropriate for any household, any parish and any boy, and a grandmother, a godfather and a sponsor can all give one without a second thought. Each is carved stone with felt under the board and every piece, Staunton-style pieces, and a velvet case.

• Marble Chess Set, White and Black Marble, 12", $269.99. The classic board: royal black and white veined marble, king 3" tall. The safe choice.
• Marble Chess Set, Botticino and Black Marble, 12", $239.99. Warm cream stone against black instead of stark white. Quieter on a wooden table.
• Marble Chess Set, Black Zebra and White, 12", $199.99. Black marble shot through with quartz and calcite, a taller 3.5" king. The most character for the least money.
• Large Marble Chess Set, Black and White Coral, White Border, 16", $199.99. The 16" board with the more ornate carved pieces. Buy this one if it will live at the grandparents' house.

Backgammon and checkers

Chess is not for every boy, and pretending otherwise wastes a good gift. Backgammon is faster, the dice even the odds between a fifteen year old and his grandfather, and it is the game that actually gets played on a porch. Checkers is the same idea for a younger confirmand. All are hand-carved marble with felt bottoms and a velvet case.

• Backgammon, Coral Border with White and Black Pieces, 11" x 15", $199.99. Full-size marble board, thirty hand-carved pieces. The best value on this page for a family that plays.
• Backgammon, White and Coral, 9" x 12", $289.99. Smaller, lighter stone in white and coral. For a boy who will take it to college in three years.
• Checkers Set, Draughts, Red and Coral, Coral Border, 12", $99.99. Twenty-four marble pieces on a 12" board. The right gift from a sponsor who wants something real at a hundred dollars.

The folding knife, from a godfather or sponsor

In a great many families the pocket knife is what a godfather or an uncle gives a boy at confirmation. It is an old custom and a sound one, on one condition: it is given by an adult, with a word about what it is for, then kept by his parents until he is old enough to carry it. Engrave the confirmation name and the date on the blade. Nothing on this list is a fixed blade, a sword or an axe, and none of those belong at a confirmation.

The adult buying decides what suits this young man and this family. A blade is not the right confirmation gift for every household, and a parent who would rather he not have one is right for that house. A chess set, or something else entirely, is a fine answer. Blade laws also vary by state, and some states set an age for possession, so check yours before you order.

• Gentleman's Lockback Folding Knife, 7", 1095 Steel, $199.99. Wood scales, metal bolsters, a clip-point blade in 1095 high carbon steel, a nail nick and a lockback. The traditional gentleman's folder, and the one to buy if you are only buying one. The flat of the blade takes a name and a date cleanly.
• Folding Pocket Knife with Bone Handle, 7", $79.99. Damascus steel blade, natural bone handle, leather sheath. Under eighty dollars and looks like an heirloom.
• Folding Pocket Knife, 7", High Carbon Damascus Steel, $99.99. A 3" blade folded to 352 layers, two-tone wood handle with brass fittings, leather sheath. The pattern in the steel is the reason to pick this over a plain folder.
• Camel Bone Folding Knife, Stainless Steel, 6.5", $99.99. Stainless blade, so it forgives a boy who forgets to oil it. The smallest and most practical knife here.
• Ornate Scrollwork Damascus Folding Knife, 7.5", $99.99. A Damascus blade in a silver-toned scrollwork handle. The one that stays in the box and gets shown to people, which at fourteen is the correct fate.

Give it somewhere to live

The chess, backgammon and checkers sets each ship in a velvet case that holds every piece, so they need nothing else. A folding knife does. The Knife Gift Box, Use for Knife Storage, $29.99, is black leather, holds the knife and the card, and is what his parents will keep it in until it is his to carry. Order it with the knife.

When to buy something else

• His parents have said no to a knife, or you have not asked. Ask. Anything short of a clear yes means the chess set. A godfather's job on this day is to support the family, not to make a point.
• You are the sponsor and you barely know him yet. A personalized blade from a near stranger is a strange object. Backgammon or checkers becomes personal by being played, and you can be the one who plays it.
• He will be carrying it to school, camp or the airport. None of these knives go in a backpack, a locker or a carry-on. If nobody in the house will hold it for him, skip the knife.
• What the family wants is a devotional gift. A rosary, a saint's medal or a missal is the right answer for some households, and this page has nothing to compete with them. Buy that, and be glad the choice was easy.
• He is seventeen and graduating in the spring. One serious gift is better than two half-serious ones. Decide which occasion gets it, and read the graduation gifts for him guide before you commit.

Blade laws vary by state and city, including the age at which a minor may own or carry a folding knife, and the buyer is responsible for knowing them. The knives ship sharpened. Nothing here travels in carry-on, and everything ships to a home address, so order to the parents' house or your own.

Frequently asked questions

What are good confirmation gifts for boys who do not care about objects?
A marble chess set or a backgammon board. Both are used rather than displayed, and both run from $99.99 to $289.99 depending on size and stone. A game he plays with his grandfather for twenty years marks the day better than most things with his name on them.

Is a pocket knife an appropriate Catholic confirmation gift for a boy?
In many families it is the traditional gift from a godfather or sponsor, appropriate when given by an adult and held by his parents until he is old enough. It is not appropriate in a household that does not want one, so ask first. The Gentleman's Lockback Folding Knife at $199.99 is the classic form; the bone handle folder at $79.99 is the same idea for less.

What should a godfather give at confirmation?
Something he can say a sentence about when he hands it over. An engraved folding knife does that, and so does a chess set if he intends to play it. The cost matters less than the fact that it came from him.

What is a good confirmation gift from a sponsor who is not family?
Checkers at $99.99 or the 11" x 15" backgammon at $199.99. Either is generous without being presumptuous from a sponsor he met through the parish, and either gives you something to do together afterward.

Can you engrave his confirmation name and the date on the knife?
Yes. Engraving and etching are done in our own Illinois workshop. Send the confirmation name, the date and any short line with the order, and allow two to three weeks before the Mass.

What do you recommend for a teenage boy who plays chess seriously?
The 16" Large Marble Chess Set at $199.99 or the 12" White and Black set at $269.99. Both use Staunton-style pieces, the pattern tournament players know, and the marble is heavy enough that a game survives a bumped table.

Is this a good godson confirmation gift if the family already bought him something?
Yes. The parents usually buy the devotional gift and the godparents buy the object, and a marble board or an engraved folding knife does not duplicate a rosary or a Bible. If the parents already bought a chess set, buy backgammon.