Gilded Tarot Royale Review

After many people asking me about this, here is my Gilded Tarot Royale Review.

I’m a big fan of the Gilded Tarot which came out in 2006, I have had this tarot deck for about 13 years now. However, due to the quality, this has been replaced due to wear and tear.

Many like me have been waiting for this to come out in a revamped version and we got it. Albeit many years later than most would have hoped.

Was it worth the wait? Good question! I’ve seen some mixed reviews after I received it. From really positive, to quite negative so thought I would try it for a good few weeks, then come back with a review.

The Gilded Tarot Royale has been used many times now and I think I am in a good position to give a review on how it reads and the quality.

Gilded Tarot Royale Review

About The Deck

This was created with the intention to elevate, recreate and make a better version of the Gilded Tarot. But also giving us a borderless version which many have asked for.

Ciro Marchetti wanted to bring out a newer version of the very popular Gilded Tarot. But not a direct recreation. There are a lot of changes within the deck, as well as clarity, more colour and no borders.

It’s brighter, clearer and updated to suit today’s brand from Ciro Marchetti.

Ciro Marchetti has such forward-thinking ideas and creates the most beautiful decks known to us tarot readers. One deck this is reminiscent of, is the Tarot Of Dreams as the artwork is stunning.

You can see the quality of the cards, the design and artwork within the Gilded Tarot Royale.

The book is written by Barbara Moore, a very renowned writer, especially for tarot books. You will find that a large number of tarot decks published by Llewellyn have the guide books written by Barbara Moore. One example is The Shadowscapes Tarot.

Barbara can write an accompanying guide book to any type of deck, she is an incredible writer and when I see she is writing for a new deck, I am instantly excited.

Many have asked for a newer version of the Gilded Royale, which has been out for 14 years. So instead of just making an updated version with the current look, they restyled it and made it a completely new deck.

Packaging, Booklet and Quality

So I have to admit that I was not impressed with the quality of the packaging. Out of all the options there is, a small flimsy card option was not what I anticipated, given the decks are usually brilliant package wise.

Although saying that, it makes me want to create a tarot bag specifically for this, which is something I am prone to doing. Could be a good thing if you like using tarot bags, but not everyone does.

The box lasted about a month or so and then shown a lot of wear. So scrapped it and using a bag.

Going into the quality of the cards though is a different story! We all wanted thicker cards with the Gilded Tarot and that is what we got, finally! The Gilded Tarot Royale gives us thicker cards!

They have a slight sheen to them, a little glossy but they are not sticky. I had no issues shuffling them and I was able to do this with ease.

After using them for a couple of months, I noticed there was no wear so I think I am going to get a lot of use out of them before they show any signs of wear.

Looking at the booklet, it is very cheap, just a small, printed black and white booklet. This is what I usually see with the Rider Waite Smith style decks.

I would like to see a proper book with this deck, as it is beautiful!

The details within the booklet are very limited and there is a small upright detail, then the same reversed. I did expect a book like the Gilded Tarot, but to be fair, I use similar meanings for them.

I’m keeping the booklet as hopefully, this may be worth something one day given it is the first release! But I hope they being a later box and book out.

The tarot cards are sized 4 3/4 inch x 2 3/4 inch and 1 1/4 thick.

About the Design

Typical of Ciro Marchetti, they have beautiful colours, designs and also people featured throughout the cards.

I enjoy the element of Medieval throughout the Gilded Tarot Royale cards.

Out of all the decks created by Ciro, these are the most detailed, clear and colourful.

Each suite has a colour scheme like swords are blue shades and pentacles are green. Whilst wands are brown, cups are gold.

The Gilded Tarot is beautiful, but you can see how updated the Gilded Tarot Royale is. Giving more definition to the characters and clothing, to using a broader colour scheme. You see a lot of violet, cerise shades, teals and more types of blues. A lot of purple and pink/red shades.

You can see elements of the Gilded Tarot, but an updated version in the Gilded Tarot Royale throughout this deck and it’s very beautiful. Whilst it has a similar theme, you can tell this is a completely different deck.

It’s detailed, beautifully coloured and full of iconography and symbols in each and every card.

You can really go deep using these cards, similarly with the Gilded Tarot.

I expected there to be gilding on the cards, however they were left plain. Also, there are no borders so for those that over the no border look, then this is for you.

Review of The Gilded Tarot

I waited desperately for this deck to arrive. From when I initially saw this deck to becoming available on pre-order and then finally, delivery.

We knew this would be coming one day, for quite a number of years. A few decks were released in the meantime such as Tarot of Dreams and The Gilded Reverie Lenormand which is based on the Lenormand style tarot.

I had a feeling this would be small packaging from the picture, but as it was the first release, I wasn’t too concerned.

As previously stated, I wasn’t overly keen on the initial packaging or guide book, however, I will certainly buy this again if they release a different style with a different book and box.

With the Gilded Tarot Royale, the cards themselves are beautiful, they really did the Gilded Tarot justice!

Readings have been accurate when using this deck and could combine it with oracle decks for a more in-depth reading.

Overall I was very pleased with the quality of the cards and how beautiful the designs are!

I’m just crossing everything that a box set is released with a larger book and better packaging.

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