December 2021 by Robert R.
First rate quality products that last and last, and look as good as new 30+ years later. (I know because I still have various Il Papiro items I bought in the 1980s at a now defunct store in San Francisco called Oggetti that you can hold side by side with items bought today and they're the same, not even any fading.) We live in a near virtual world now and so it's nice to develop small rituals that link us to the past, and for this reason I like Il Papiro's sheets of paper as drawer liners. Their small keepsake boxes inside a drawer, a stack of marbled paper-covered blank journals, a pencil cup, and so on. Sometimes you just need to step away from a screen, make yourself a cup of tea, and have a moment of ritual for yourself with a fountain pen, good quality paper, your own wax seal for letters, or whatever makes you feel happy and pampered, and Il Papiro sells that, even if you just think it's a box, a marbled paper-covered pencil (or 12 of them), and so on.
February 2021 by Sandra Z.
I bought my very first Il Papiro diary ("agenda" as they call it) in Siena, Italy, in 1985, then was overjoyed when I discovered another Il Papiro (though called Oggetti) in San Francisco on another vacation the following year. Then, by a great stroke of luck, one opened in Los Angeles (where I live) the year after that. For the following decade plus, I would religiously buy their absolutely gorgeous, unique, one-of-a-kind florentine marbled paper creations. Their beauty and singularity inspired me to fill up their pages and write every day. When the Oggetti in LA closed and I could no longer locate any of these fabulous diaries, I stopped writing regularly, for several decades. But I never stopped searching and hoping. It wasn't just the diaries I had purchased there, I also purchased many other objects of beauty in the marbled paper that they sold in their magical shops. But the diaries were so important to me, they chronicled the story of my life, every year a different color scheme. Those gorgeous colors would burst off the front and back covers, and the spine, and were mesmerizingly kaleidoscopic. I absolutely treasured them and they occupied a special shelf on my bookcase. Once Google made its debut, I periodically would look to see if there was an Il Papiro or Oggetti still in existence, but I never had any luck. Until last year. There to my wondering eyes appeared an Il Papiro in NY and Palm Beach!!! I got right on it and requested to be notified as soon as the agendas for the new year came in. The very kind lady I spoke with did just that, and, with great joy and anticipation, I ordered my very first Il Papiro agenda since 1999! Because the dyes are so individual, not every book looks as it appears on the website, so when I received my agenda, although it was beautiful, it wasn't as perfect for my own personal taste. When I called to ask whether I could exchange it, it was no problem. However, like an idiot, I didn't wrap it carefully enough, and it got damaged on the way back. Despite my negligence, they still provided exemplary, above-and-beyond customer service and took the return and sent me my stunning new agenda which I have been so very happy writing in every night, filling it up with all things great and small, wise and wonderful...and some not...I just finished my latest entry, and although it is very late, I thought, "I have to let the world know how very, very much I am absolutely loving being reunited with the most gorgeous diaries in the world after a too-long absence. Especially after how kind they were to me!" Il Papiro's products are always one-of-a-kind. Although I am particularly besotted with the agendas, I would gladly fill my home with many other of their beautiful objects...if I could afford them! Maybe one day...a girl can dream. Thank you Il Papiro for bringing a smile to my face every single day. I can't wait to fill up many more agendas, hopefully with many more magical moments.
