The London Globee

One of the companies I discovered at the Christmas in July event was Globee.

The product that they are hoping will take a slice of the lucrative Christmas market is their innovative City Globe which bears the same name as the company.

The Globees are available in different sizes and featuring a whole range of different cities.

I was given a London Globee to review. It is the 15cm diameter Globee which retails at £20.

It is beautifully illustrated with 40 key landmarks and an accompanying booklet that provides additional information about the landmarks.

I love the slightly muted colour scheme, the cartoon feel of the building illustrations and the amazing amount of detail. What I am struggling to understand is the whole concept of having a city map in globe format. It works for the world map because the world is a sphere - but cities aren't. I don't really get it.

If I could get past that confusion, I would absolutely love these.

There is no denying that the globe format is intriguing and it invites you to spin and explore.

There is definitely an educational element but I also think it would make a lovely souvenir. I can imagine having a Globee collection of all the cities that are important to me - places I have lived or visited or dream of visiting.

Globee do aim their product at both the child and adult market and I could see that they would make an unusual gift for those 'difficult to buy for people', which is always a bonus.

My favourite part of the London Globee is the depiction of the little Guards outside Buckingham Palace because it reminds me of my dad who as a young man could have been found wearing a bearskin himself.

The more I write about how much I like this product, the less concerned I am about my initial objection to the whole globe thing. This is what the rest of the family think of the London Globee.

I have made a  decision - the Globee is going to take pride of place on my desk next to my computer where I will see it (and spin it) every day and who cares if cities aren't spheres!

Follow Globee on Twitter and Facebook