FAQ - Gillio Firenze

I often get asked questions on a regular basis about different brands of organisers, so I am going to bring them together in to an easy to understand and a format that we can keep up to date easily. Today's post we look at Gillio Firenze.

As a way of introduction, Gillio was 'introduced' to us by Mella who discovered their products in a store in Antwerp when she was looking for a Filofax Deco. She blames me for this, but she then became a big fan of Gillio organisers and now works for them!!

Company History
Gillio Firenze is a small family business that sells high-end, top quality, handmade leather goods made out of the finest Italian leathers. The company started with a small stationery shop in Brussels in 1952 and they have since expanded their brand and collections significantly. Their products are sold worldwide (to almost 50 countries) through dealershops, They also have two stores in Belgium (Brussels and Antwerp) and through their own on-line webshop.

Company Details. 

Company: Gillio Firenze

Location:  

Gillio - IIC bvba
Rollebaan 47a
1640 Sint-Genesius-Rode
+32 (0)2 380 63 19

Email: info@gillio.be
Website: http://www.gillio.be

Facebook page: Gillio Firenze
Facebook group: Gillio Firenze

Product details. 

The Gillio Firenze products stand out in quality, craftsmanship and overall look and feel. Once you have owned a Gillio product and have experienced their leather quality, it’s hard to ever go back to cheaper commercial leathers. Their well-known epoca leathers are still coloured according to the ancient Italian traditions. Not a quick colour dye, but traditional vegetable tanning. This transformation from raw hides into beautifully dyed leather is a slow and astonishing process in wooden drums, based on the use of natural tannins, on modern technologies and machineries but mainly, on the slow passage of time.

This process is the most environmental-friendly, and it allows them to keep the uniqueness and versatility in the product. The natural variations (creases, imperfections, scars, variations in the colour or the grain) in the leathers are inherent to the Gillio products: you will never find two identical products in the Gillio collection: instead of offering perfectly (artificially) smoothened, thirteen-in-a-dozen products, Gillio firmly believes in creating unique pieces of craftsmanship that will grow even more beautiful with age - true heirlooms!

Leathers. 
High quality vegetable tanning is disappearing in Europe, with an exception of Italy, where all of their leathers are produced. Gillio leathers are labeled with the 'Certificato de Garanzia - pelle conciata al vegetale in Toscana' label: guaranteed vegetable tanned Tuscan leathers. Gillio earned this label after meeting the most stringent requirements for authenticity of leather processing, imposed by the strict specifications of the Consortium, an independent organization that carries out regular (unannounced) spot checks on quality and production.

For more details about the leathers that Gillio uses in their products please visit this page on their own Website.

Rings.
The rings on Gillio Planners are removable just follow the instructions in my video.

Warranty
Gillio offer a life time warranty on all of their products even if you didn't buy it direct from them. This gives you peace of mind when buying any Gillio product. Full details can be found on the Gillio website here. 

What is the difference between the Gillio and the Gigliodoro products?

Gigliodoro is the former name of Gillio Firenze. They have re-branded in 2008, so any products labeled 'Gigliodoro' are mostly from before then.

Organiser Models and Sizes:

Gillio make three models of organiser, the Amica, the Compagna and the Mia Cara

A4 - This is available only in the Amica model, and it uses a universal 4 ring mechanism the same as Filofax A4.

A5 - This size is available in all three models. They are all fitted with 25 mm rings which are the standard ring spacing the same as Filofax A5

Medium - This size is available in all three models. They are all fitted with 25 mm rings which are the standard ring spacing the same as Filofax Personal size

Medium - Slim This size is available in only the Compagna model.  They are all fitted with 14mm rings which are the standard ring spacing, the same as Filofax Personal/Slimline

A6 - This size is available in only the Compagna model.  They are all fitted with 23 mm rings which are the standard ring spacing the same as Mulberry Agenda and Van der Spek Senior size.

Pocket - This size is available in all three models. They are all fitted with 16 mm rings which are the standard ring spacing the same as Filofax Pocket size.

Mini - This size is available in just the Amica and Compagna models. They are all fitted with 12 mm rings and the ring spacing is the same as Filofax Mini.

Other products:
In addition to ring bound organisers Gillio also have their Giramondo Travellers Notebook covers and they also recently added the Appunto A5 and A6 bound planner covers too.

There is also a huge range of other leather goods such as bags and wallets, desk sets, pen cases etc etc. See the website for full details.

Purchasing Gillio Products on-line Gillio has a very comprehensive website, which I think will answer most of your questions about purchasing from them, instead of repeating their Q&A's please follow this link to their website.

Gillio Blog - The website has a news section which regularly features stock up dates and offers.

Previous Gillio posts and reviews on Philofaxy can be found here. 

We will up date this post with new information and answer any questions in more detail. Please leave any questions in the comments.