Papier’s stationery advent calendar sold out by mid October in previous years – and this year, it’s prettier than ever before

For the third year in a row, Papier released its advent calendar. Known for its beautiful stationery, it’s no surprise that Papier’s stationery advent calendar is the prettiest festive calendar on the market – so imagine my excitement when I managed to get my hands on one of these.

I was already impressed with the designs of the calendars from the prior two years, which sold out by mid-October, but this year’s is by far the best advent calendar design Papier has come out with. The red box that unfolds by untying the bow was inspired by traditional panettone boxes this year.

‘Our artists and designers spent a year researching and creating products exclusively for the calendar – each one uniquely designed and not available anywhere else,’ says Taymoor Atighetchi, founder of Papier. ‘This year’s design draws inspiration from vintage panettone boxes and the richness of Italian culture, with rich colours of red, gold and dusky pinks. It captures the festive spirit without leaning too Christmas-specific.’

Titled ‘24 Days of Desk Delights’, the calendar is filled with 24 pieces of beautiful stationery goodies, which includes everything from notebooks to thank you cards, bookmarks and more. But all of it comes at a price – a rather high one, as the calendar sells for £140. Aside from the calendar’s good looks, it was the price point that made me want to have a good look at it in person and really dive deep into its content to find out whether it’s worth it.

(Image credit: Papier)

The pros

It’s not just the design of the calendar’s exterior that’s pretty as a picture. Similarly to the Diptyque and Jo Malone advent calendars, the Papier calendar looks even better once you open it up as each day’s treat comes beautifully packaged in a differently patterned and shaped box.

And many of the gifts are both lovely and useful – the set of checked washi tapes which hide inside box no. 15 were among my favourites, as were the coloured pens from box no. 16. This calendar is perfect for anybody that loves beautiful stationery and good design, whether that’s you or one of your loved ones – because it also makes for a great gift.

The cons

The high price point is an obvious con. And as much as I’ve been singing the design’s praises, it being the main selling point too, I was a little bit disappointed about the structural integrity of the calendar.

Upon opening it for the first time, the calendar came apart at the back (as shown in the picture below) where it was glued together. It goes without saying that my colleague and I, who were opening it, weren’t in any way overly forceful. Of course, it can be fixed by glueing it back together, but I don’t think you should have to do that when paying £140 for an advent calendar.

(Image credit: Future/Sara Hesikova)

The verdict

I do believe that £140 is quite steep. But it is designed and presented as more of a luxury advent calendar. Not to mention it’s still less than most beauty advent calendars on the market, including The White Company’s popular advent calendar which retails for £195. And that’s the advent calendar category that the brand quotes as its inspiration so in that sense, it only makes sense.

So if you are a fan of Papier and/or stationery in general (or know someone that is), then I feel comfortable recommending this calendar to you. It is truly the prettiest calendar I’ve seen all year, and yet, it’s not even the most expensive.