Van Der Spek Day: Comparison of VDS Touch Me and Gillio Mia Cara in A5

The first thing I must say is the same thing I said in my previous comparison. I cannot tell you which one is better because they are different binders. And I cannot tell you which one is better for you as only you can do that. But I can show you pictures and describe them to better equip you to make a decision.

  • The price difference between these two is enormous. The Gillio is an eyewateringly expensive binder, while the Touch Me is very reasonably priced.
  • The leather on the Gillio Mia Cara is very heavy while the Touch Me is way lighter
  • The leather on the Mia Cara is glorious so you can see where the extra cost comes from the but the Touch Me leather is also very very nice.
  • The two secretarial pockets on the Touch Me are very nice but the binder within a binder system on the Mia is also lovely.
  • The Mia Cara is big and bulky whereas the Touch Me, despite the back pocket is lighter and smaller.
  • There is much more leather in the Mia Cara due to the ‘binder within a binder’ style.
  • The Touch Me only comes in black and brown while the Mia Cara is available in an increasing range of colours and leathers.
  • The Touch Me has a gussetted zipped pocket which means that it is way more useful as a wallet.
  • I have a feeling the Touch Me show less wear as Epoca gold leather marks very easily. That is part of its charm but if you don’t like binders that mark easily then I would choose the Touch Me.
  • Both have replaceable rings but the Touch Me is made to take both 25mm and 30mm rings in standard size, and both 25mm and 35mm rings in A5 size.
  • For me, the Mia Cara is a very big binder with too-small rings. It should have at least 30mm rings. There is no point in having such an enormous binder with small rings. The same goes for the Mia Cara pocket which is enormous compared to other pockets (almost personal size)  but has only 15mm rings instead of 19mm.

If I had to go back I would still definitely have bought both but I would definitely have bought a Touch Me WAY sooner than I did if I had seen and felt it before. The leather is beautiful and it is a lovely binder. They are two different binders but both are lovely.

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Author: Janet Carr

Fashion, beauty and animal loving language consultant from South Africa living in Stockholm, Sweden.

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