My Favourite Franklin Binders

     Today, I want to talk about my favourite Franklin binders. As you well know after all this time, my current (and must I say favourite) main planning system is my Franklin covey planner. I use the Franklin Covey classic sized binder, along with the inserts you can buy online. (I sometime used products that aren’t officially Franklin Planner, but generally, I stick with Day on Two Page planners).

      I change out my binders and planner deco on a monthly basis so I don’t get bored. (I find that this is a main reason that people end up changing systems – they get bored, so they figure that they need a whole new system to prevent that boredom). Try changing up things within your system! I like to keep the size the same, but I love using kits from my favourite subscription services to give my planner a new look each month. One year, I even chose different themes in advance and then followed that plan all year.

      Let’s start with the binders!

VINTAGE AURORA:

     So this is probably one of the Franklin Favorites across the majority of the Franklin planner community. I think the main reason is the quality of the materiels – it is made of fine grain Italian leather, and the colors chosen each release season are absolutely beautiful. The binder is held closed with a strap that can allow for a bit of stretch. There is a magnet at the end of the strap that helps to hold the strap in place once closed. The rings that come in all the Vintage Auroras are 1.5 inches, and the hardware is all gold. (Of course, you can manually change the rings in your binders yourself, but this voids the warranty and is not recommended, especially in zippered binders due to too much pressure on the zipper).

     The Vintage Auroras are known as the unicorns of the Franklin Planner world. They come packaged extremely well, in a hard black box, and smell exquisite upon opening. The leather patinas beautifully over time. Personally, I use leather conditioner on all of my leather binders (and other leather products). I find that this adds a beautiful shine and durability to the leather.

     The pockets on the compact differ from the classic a bit (see pictures), but they have an amazing array of pockets and organizational areas. They are great for functionality as well as decoration if you feel so inclined.  There’s just something really special about the Auroras, but they do come with a price. They are one of the most expensive binders, but the quality truly does speak for itself, and they last forever!

     A notable mention is that the (much) older and original vintage auroras were made unstructured and lined with fabric on the insides.  After awhile, the aurora was changed to a leather interior and a harder outer shell. There are many colours, ranging from dark chocolate to a dusty blue. They usually have two colors on the website available at any given time until sold out.

      I have noticed that these binders are well sought after, even after many years of being released. They are limited edition, so once they run out on the website, they are only replaced with a new updated color. People do try to make a pretty penny off of these binders. I have seen some asking prices as high as $700 for a classic sized binder!

ANNA:

      In my humble opinion, the Anna’s are a close second relation to the Vintage Auroras. These have also changed over time. The original Anna’s had a harder, more durable leather that seemed to be able to withstand more. There were a variety of colors over the years, ranging from a beautiful light pink, to a nautical blue to an onyx.

      The pockets are still as plentiful as in the Vintage Auroras, but in a different placement. The hardware is silver in all of these binders, and the ring size is 1.25” in the classic and 1” in the compact. The binders come with a snap closure instead of a slip-in magnetic strap. This does limit the insert capacity somewhat.

The leather in the older Anna’s was a full grain, slightly pebbled texture. The new Anna’s, (starting with the Nostalgia Rose and Rainforest Green which are still on the website at the time of writing) have a softer, slightly pebbled texture. They usually have at least three colors for sale at one time, unless sold out.

TORRINO:

This is a brand new binder to me as of October 2024. I have yet to use it for a full month, but I think I’m already in love. The one and only color it comes in is cognac.

The rings are 1.5”, and it does not come in compact size. The rings are silver, and it appears the screws are not removable. This means you cannot switch out the rings for a different size without damaging them.

This may make sense as this is the first unstructured binder that I’ve seen since the previous unstructured Vintage Auroras. The front and back covers are made out of this beautiful layered leather. The texture of the leather shows some grain, but is very smooth. There were comments on the website (I noticed it as well) about a chemical smell coming from the leather. This could be part of the processing.

The pockets on this binder (see picture) are quite different from Franklin’s usual pocket systems. It may be difficult to get used to, but with some imagination, you can still add some cute charms and sticky notes!

The biggest difference for this binder is the clasp. On the website, they say it is a snap binder but it is not. Instead, there is a little hole in the strap, and it fits on this small silver knob to hold it in place. The only thing I’ve noticed from multiple uses is that the strap is showing some bending from lifting up on it. This is similar to patina though - the more you use and love your binder, the more marked up it may get. I don’t think this is something that you should be scared of - it tells a story, and a patina’d leather is more beautiful over time.

CANYON LEATHER:

These binders are notable mentions because actually, there is nothing truly special about them. They are real leather, but they do not smell like it, and they have the same weight as a non-leather binder. The pockets are similar to some of the more basic binders Franklin Planner has to offer.

They come with 1.5 inch rings, and come only in classic size. The hardware is silver and they have a snap closure. The hardware on the snap is actually gun metal in color and seems a bit more heavy duty than the Anna Snap.

The thing I like most about these binders is that they come in my favourite colors! The three that I personally have are periwinkle, sunrise lavender and majestic teal. The other colors were Greenbriar (this beautiful emerald green) and this beige canyon color which is no longer available.

So that’s it! I hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite planning binders! Do you own any of these?

Thanks so much for reading and we’ll see you next week!

Sandra