Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, Coltrane for later when the heretics have departed. Conspicuous in it's omission from your list of recommended gins is the old standby, Tanqueray. It's often my gin of choice when the occasion requires an acceptable alternative to the higher proof of Beefeater's or when I'm not in a Bombay frame of mind. My apologies to Mr. Jenkins. All of my shakers are stainless steel and they work just fine.
Stainless steel provides a good medium for chilling gin in seconds and is easy to maintain.
I did see a fine shaker at Tiffany's in sterling silver that had a real nice heft to it, but ownership and rigorous testing of that unit is on hold for the time being. There's also something intrinsically pleasing about the sound of shaking ice that's good for the soul. Saw a fine example of a shaker recently at Williams-Sonoma. While shopping for Martini glasses, I noticed that some glasses are more shallow than others, that is, the angle of attack from the stem to the rim is steeper on some glasses than on others. My own preference in Martini glasses is that they should resemble as closely as possible that familiar neon sign that serves as an icon to indicate the presence of cocktails in the windows of bars and other boozing sheds.