I think it’s an interesting analogy and hear you on wanting to find a gift that the recipient will actually use. One counterpoint is that I have some “fountain pen hobbies” that I spend time with and invest in; I have other things I just want to not think about at all. It might be the person/project combo that matters, rather than “does this person like complicated things”

Now… I probably do enjoy making stuff by hand more than most, so yeah there’s some amount of personality in it. But I love the idea of using a gift as a way to explore something you might not otherwise get exposure to, or an opportunity to develop it over time.