As you know, the Filofax was my latest obsession. I'm in the Filofax group on FB and follow the Philofaxy blog extensively. One day, one of the members of the group posted a video about the Gillio Firenze planners... and made a lot of us fall madly in love with it. One of those people was me! ^_^ [Obviously, otherwise I wouldn't be posting about it. Hehehe]
After debating for awhile and watching more videos from Mella (the one who posted about the Gillio), I really had to hold myself back from buying one. Why?! They're about 3 times more expensive than some Filofaxes!
Then, Mella tempted us even more when Gillio gave her a promotion code for the Philofaxy group; 25% off until her birthday! [June 16th, I believe] Oh, you have no idea how long I debated about this....
But as you can see from the above photo, I lost my battle and bought one. I said it'll be my splurge item for my birthday.
[Boring background information about me] My family doesn't celebrate my birthdays so most of the time, I try and do it myself. Most of the time, it's splurging on an item I've been wanting for awhile. Unfortunately, last year because of some personal issues; I wasn't able to do that. So! I thought that this would make up for it! And, truthfully, it's still not as expensive as the SLR I got a few years ago ;)
I had gone to the site a billion times and couldn't decide between the MAT Croco - Grey (Mella has this one) or the MAT Croco - Aubergine. Somehow, I kept getting drawn to the Aubergine one. On impulse, I ordered that one. Or at least, I tried to. Lol!
I used my credit card to purchase it and wow, they're right on top of fraud protection! It got declined. I was wondering why because the card is completely paid off. So I checked and it said my account was blocked because they suspected fraud. O_O; Of course I called them and they told me that "someone was trying to purchase something in Belgium with your card". I told them that was me!!! LOL! They unblocked my account and let me purchase it. YAY!
Unfortunately for me, five days later... I was like "Oh noooo! Maybe I should've gotten the Grey!" So I emailed them and tried to see if they could switch the colors. Unfortunately, it was sold out. But it's okay... ^_^ They told me I would love the Aubergine and you know what? They're right. I still do want a Grey one (Maybe a compact/pocket size one), but that will have to wait (in the far off future :P)
I ordered on May 18, 2013 and received it June 3, 2013. Not bad for shipping speed. Of course, I was waiting IMPATIENTLY for it :P When I went to get it, I rushed out the door and didn't realize my T-shirt was on backwards (:D Silly me!). Guess I was just that excited.
Wow, my intro is crazy long! Anyway, lets get on with the post! ^_^;
So the photo WAY above is how the box came in. Taped with Gillio Firenze tape.
Stuffed inside the box was a bunch of bubble wrap. Sorry for the bad lighting in the first two photos... I took some of these photos on different days.
I started using the flash on my camera. I used my SLR :P Ahhhh! Are you excited yet!?!??! :D~
It comes with a dust bag which is awesome because while I just toss my Filofaxes in my bag, I don't want to ruin this one.
*Angels are singing!* Isn't he (yes, HE) beautiful!??!?!?!!?!?! *sighs happily* The front...
The back
From the bottom. Yes, it includes a silver ballpoint (blue ink! and it writes really nice too!)
From the back-bottom.
Opened...
You can't really see it, but let me describe the left side/inside cover:
There's a zippered gusseted pocket. Right next to the zipper there's another long pocket. Where you see the Gillio promotional cards and such is a business card slot. There's also a secretarial pocket (Why didn't I take a photo of this!?)
On the right side, you'll see that they included a "page" of leather that's the same color as the planner you chose. You can get this engraved with your initials for a fee. I didn't do it, obviously :P
What you don't see (because I didn't take a photo of this either -_-;) is the full-length pocket in the back! FULL-LENGTH!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going to put important papers and bills in here! ^_^ That pocket has me all excited LOL.
Here's the Gillio Firenze logo :)
This is the inside of the back cover.
There's another secretarial pocket and has 5 business card/credit card (?) slots.
Now, we're going to look at the inserts. You have the option of opting out of the inserts or the week on two pages (like I did) or the Day on a page.
Important dates Inserts
A closer view...
2013-2015 Calender
Monthly glance... I kind of like the size of this (it's pretty small, honestly). But hey, that's what separate monthly inserts are for ;)
Now it's the "diary" section. Week on two pages... Unfortunately, the weekends are smaller than Monday - Friday. Also showed the pen that was included. I tested it on this page (if you can't see it :P)
All the diary inserts are perforated!
It comes with a frosted ruler.
Contacts
The "Contacts" inserts...
A-Z tabs
Project inserts that were included...
"GOALS" inserts
"Appointment" inserts
"MEMO" / "TO DO" inserts
"NOTES"
"GRAPH"
"EXPENSES"
World Map
This is a full length pouch that has reinforcements and blank tab-labels (included in the planner)
3-card slots
And a .... pouch of some sort that has a small flap that folds over the opening so nothing falls out.
Tabs from the side...
Tabs that are hiding behind the A-Z tabs
Top tabs
More tabs hiding behind the ruler...
Closed.
The leather is amazing. I've had a Filofax Malden and an Amazona and I must say that I really love the Gillio's leather. It's soft, supple, floppy (in a good way), not heavy, well made, etc.
If I were to get another Gillio, I'd still stick with the Compagna model and get the Pocket sized in Mat Croco - Grey. I really love the pocket sizes :).
Anyway, I love my Gillio so much that I'm selling off my Malden. Then again, I wasn't a really big fan of it. I'm still debating if I should sell the Mode...
Any interest in selling this planner?
ReplyDeleteHi Toni, i'm sorry but I already traded it with someone in the Gillio FB group a few months ago.
Delete