Father's Day

Father's Day gifts here sit on the dressier side of the store: watches, wallets, leather bags, belts, shoes and boxed tie sets, with a few toys mixed in for the dads who would rather have a drone than a wallet. If he already owns every tool he needs, this is the lane to shop. Accessories are the things men rarely replace for themselves, which is exactly why they land as gifts.

Timing catches people out, because the date is not the same everywhere. Father's Day falls on the third Sunday in June in the US and the UK, and on other dates in plenty of other countries, so check yours before you work backwards from a delivery window. Order early enough that you are choosing on merit rather than on whatever can still arrive by Saturday morning.

Sizing is the main risk in this collection and it is easy to remove. For a belt, measure one he already wears from the buckle to the hole he actually uses, rather than guessing from his trouser size. For shoes, read the number printed inside a pair he owns instead of estimating; Oxford styles and slip-ons fit differently even at the same size. Watches are the forgiving option, since a steel bracelet can have links taken out and a leather strap costs little to swap, so a watch gift set is the safer bet whenever you are not sure.

The gadget end needs a different kind of check. A portable folding 4K drone is a brilliant gift for someone who will fly it and a shelf ornament for someone who will not, and most countries have rules about where you can fly and whether you need to register it, so send that one to a dad who will happily deal with the paperwork. A retro video games console lands with anyone who grew up on the originals. The small unglamorous things get the most use of all: a portable mini cooling fan, a travel foot rest for long flights, a storage box that turns into a chair.

What not to buy: another tie he will not wear, anything printed with the word Dad that has no second use, and gadgets that need an account and a setup he never asked for. If you are stuck, a boxed leather gift set covers most men, a gift card covers all of them, and the personalised scratch world map is the one for a father who keeps talking about the places he has been. Every product shows its rating and reviews from real buyers, so read the low ones to check the leather and the stitching, which is the part no product photo will ever tell you.