Gerardus Mercator undoubtedly mastered the series production of globes better than anyone else. In his time, globemaking was fraught with difficulties ranging from drawing the gores to engraving them on the copper plates to making the globe stay balanced in all positions and while rotating it to adjusting the printed gores so that the lines of all the circles met.

A veteran engraver, Mercator innovated in the gores’ application by creating polar calottes separately (the vertical gores themselves extended only to the 70th parallels instead of continuing all the way to the north and south poles). This not only consolidated the vertical gores but also made it easier to lay them out on the sphere and to read information in the polar regions.

Mercator also introduced a special design for the stands which remained the same subsequently. Finally, by varnishing the globes he enhanced the colours while protecting the surfaces.