Guide to the best globes money can buy

 

Guide to the best globes money can buy

So you want to buy a globe? If you know where to look, you’ll discover an astonishing variety of different types and sizes of globe, available from globemakers around the world. Where to begin to find the globe that’s perfect for you?

Here’s our guide to the best quality globes of every type and every size you can buy from globemakers and globesellers around the world.

Clear Frosted Glass Earth Globe Marble from West End Collectables
Pocket globe by Charles Price, 1716, Science Museum, London
Celestial globe with clockwork by Gerhard Emmoser, 1579, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Jade Fenster hand-painting a globe at Bellerby & Co globemakers

Globe Sizes

Globes come in a wide range of different sizes, from the size of a marble to the size of a room in your house.

Not sure whether it’s a miniature, pocket, small, desk, floor or huge globe you’re after? Explore our guide and find the size that’s right for you.

 

the different sizes of globe

Facsimile of Vincenzo Coronelli's 1688 terrestrial globe from Greaves and Thomas globemakers
Facsimile of John Betts' 1850 portable terrestrial globe made of paper from Greaves and Thomas globemakers
Illuminated globe
The Kiel Relief Globe at the Christian Albrechts University, Kiel

Globe Types

There’s an astonishing variety of different types of globe, from the inflatable to the illuminated, the handmade to the heirloom.

Be sure to explore the different types of globe before you buy: whether it’s a globe that spins magically under solar power or a creative art globe, you’re sure to come across something you’ve never seen before!

 

the different types of globe

image of the moon
image of the planet Jupiter
image of the stars including the Milky Way
image of an ocean wave

Globe Designs

Not all globes are world globes. Some show the moon, a planet or the stars. Others show a particular city, island or country, mapped out on the surface of a sphere. Still others show the continents and oceans as they used to be, millions of years ago.

 

the different designs of globes

Britain on a globe
Canada on a globe
America on a globe
Europe on a globe

Globemakers

There has been an extraordinary renaissance of globemaking around the world in recent years. Some globemakers and globesellers are family firms keeping alive globemaking traditions that go back generations; others are innovators, reinventing the globe.

 

the best globemakers in the world