Gift 'em when they least expect it.

Of course you have to bring your gifting A-game for the usual holidays: Christmas, birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, etc. But even if what’s inside the box is a surprise on those occasions, the fact that you’re giving a gift isn’t. It’s more like checking a box. It’s fulfilling an obligation. It’s expected.

On days like those, you really have to give a spectacular gift to stand out. You have to go above and beyond to be the first gift mentioned when somebody asks the recipient what they got for (insert holiday here).

For maximum wow factor, for optimal thanks, for an efficient gratitude-to-gift ratio, give someone a gift at no particular time for no particular reason.

Take late August into early September. The only occasions for weeks in either direction are Labor Day and the first day of school. A gift like this Imperial Pearl 18" Station Necklace will seem all the more lavish at this time of year, because it’s so unexpected.

You could save it for December, sure. You could throw it on the pile of other pretty good gifts. But these seven large and eight small freshwater cultured pearls will get you much more shock for your buck if you give them now. This sterling silver chain will strike like a bolt of lightning, lighting up the sky of this non-festive, holiday-free dead zone.

(Yeah, we would say that, wouldn’t we? Well, don’t look now, but in between the hilarious stories and wonderful videos and irresistible forum discussions, we try to sell the occasional product. Consider this non-holiday-gift idea a tiny grain of hucksterism to balance out the ton of Christmas hype.)

Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from being both giver and recipient. You’re worth it. You’d look good in these pearls. Come on, you know you would. If nobody else is going to surprise you with this, treat yo’self.

If you do give it as a gift, though, make sure you don’t give another gift this time next year, or you’ll kill the excitement. Once is a surprise; twice is a precedent; three times is a routine.