Best Laser Engraved Gifts for Top Drawer Branding

Custom laser engraved bamboo pens and frosted glass water bottle with custom laser engraved bamboo.

If you’re looking to add your imprint to a custom promotional product, laser engraved gifts are a strong option. Find out the unique benefits engraved promotional products can deliver, engraving tips that make the most out of your imprint, and the best laser engraved gifts for your next event or campaign.

What Is Laser Engraving?

Engraving is marking a design onto a hard surface by cutting grooves into it with a steel tool or chisel. Engraving methods include hand, machine, rotary, and laser. Laser engraving uses a hot beam of light to cut by melting or vaporizing away the surface of the material. Unlike hand engraving, laser engraving requires an investment of time, space, and machinery. It’s the most popular engraving method today for gifts and giveaways because it’s cost-effective, fast, efficient, and versatile. This makes laser engraved gifts an easy way to add elegance and staying power to merch.

When Should I Choose Laser Engraved Promotional Products?

Laser engraving adds a permanence to your branding that gives it extra importance and makes your gift more meaningful. Popular occasions for an engraved promotional product include anniversaries, reunions, employee recognition, and high value clients.

What Are Some Engraving Tips for My Laser Engraved Gifts?

Laser Engraving adds a decided sophistication to your promotional gift. Leverage the sleek look of your laser engraved branding by keeping these engravings tips in mind:

Essentials Only: Stick to the basics, like your name and the occasion, and only include a url or phone number if you can do so without cramming. Limit lines of text so your message is as elegant as your engraving.
Avoid Frilly Fonts: Use uppercase letters to make reading easy.
Add an Emblem: If you’re celebrating an anniversary, consider an anniversary pen like the Anniversary Alpha Stylus Pen with Rose Gold Trim, which comes with the anniversary year you choose, engraved into the barrel alongside your logo.

What Materials Are Best to Use for Laser Engraving?

The best materials for laser engraved gifts are metal, rubber, glass, and wood. You’ll see that many of our engraved pens feature a soft touch rubberized finish with anodized aluminum underneath. This means your custom imprint is engraved into the soft touch finish, revealing your logo in the color of the underlying metal—usually silver, gold, or mirror. This process enhances contrast and gives you many more color options for your pen, pen set, or other laser engraved giveaways.

Should I Make My Own Laser Engraved Gifts?

For all the DIY’ers out there, you might be wondering what laser engraving materials you’ll need to laser engrave your special message on that special something from the comfort of your own home, or garage, or workshop, or industrial park. Our best advice? Stop right there!

Although tool engraving can be done with a $5 chisel, laser engraving requires materials and equipment that run the gamut! There are three primary forms of laser engraving: diode (semiconductor) laser, fiber laser, and CO2 laser. CO2 is the most common and here’s an example of the associated costs of DIY: a CO2 laser engraving machine ($2,000 at the very least), CO2 laser water cooling system (from $30 for a water pump to $600 for an industrial water chiller), a ventilation system to remove smoke, soot, and other airborne debris (sample costs could include a duct fan for $70 and a fume extractor for $200); and laser software ($60 to $120). Lastly, don’t forget a dedicated electric circuit with a breaker, plus enough space for your laser and supporting machinery. Oh, yes, and the materials you’ll engrave on, like glass, wood, rubber, tile, and anodized metals.

The good news? Today it’s remarkably cost- and time-efficient to have your promotional products laser engraved just the way you want them and delivered right to your door—no equipment required!

Tip: For a brief timeline of engraving plus how to pick the best engraved promotional pen, check out this blog: Engraved Ink Pens & Types of Engraving for Promotional Pens.

What Are the Best Laser Engraved Promotional Products?

If you’re looking for laser engraved gifts to enhance your special event, recognize employees, welcome new customers, or thank donors to your non-profit, these product categories offer excellent laser engraving options while also being favorite products among recipients:

Bags: Elevate your branding—and their lunch game—with the Engraved Encore RPET Cooler Bag featuring your logo, laser engraved on a gunmetal plate in front.

Coasters: Set that drink down on a laser engraved marble and bamboo coaster for branding at every social event.

Cutting Boards: A little logo with that charcuterie, folks? Get your branding in the kitchen and on the counter with this laser engraved bamboo cutting board.

Drinkware: This sleek and streamlined, stainless steel tumbler features a bamboo lid with your logo laser engraved, for brand visibility with every sip. Tip: Check out our wide assortment of custom engraved tumblers and custom engraved water bottles for the perfect size, style, and beverage.

Keyrings: The price is right for this quality keyring, engraved with your logo and featuring a carabiner for use everywhere.

Pens: This Mineral Mia Gift Set in Thank You Box features an engraved imprint, mineral trim, and a matching stylus pen and flashlight to make any gift-giving occasion more special, and your branding more memorable. Tip: Browse our full collection of custom engraved pens for the perfect match for your occasion, recipient, and branding style.

Plaques: The engraved items we know and love include plaques and trophies of all kinds, from a golf tournament trophy to a star employee paperweight.

Stationery: This engraved note organizer and pen set has everything they need to stay organized, and features your logo on the front for quality branding every time a sticky note is stuck!

Why Use Laser Engraving?

Today’s technology and economies of scale make laser engraved gifts an affordable option for budgets of all sizes and occasions of all kinds. Enjoy the added style and substance of a laser engraved gift, and the lasting visibility an engraved imprint delivers.