Darn, I actually saw those gold corners when I first look at the pic, but I didn't know there were gold-cornered Filo's to begin with. How pathetic am I???
Here some details about this Filo: I bought it end of the 1980-s but I don't remember where. Must have been in England because they gave me a brochure with it showing the entire Filofax system of 1987.
Here comes nostalgia: All products were manufactured of leather in best quality except the Billingham which was made of canvas and leather in order to complement the great camera bags of Billingham which were a must for professional photographers back then.
In this brochure one finds descriptions of the Filofax Duplex in double Persoanl size with 2 ring mechanisms. Top of the line was the deluxe Balmoral which holds 300 leaves. All models have the Personal format, no A5 and no pocket or even smaller Filos in the offering.
Even more interesting is the enormous choice of leaves for the Filo. There were paper sheets for business, art and design, church, investment, the military. Information leaves covered English and international data sets, maps and a "Filmfax" with 25 leaves for filmmakers giving information about lens angles, exposure and camera speed.
Let's go back to my own Filo again. Some readers looking for it in the photo were surprised that a Filo came with gold corners. Remember that Filofax was a posh product at that time.
This one even has no holders for credit cards but two diagonal pockets at the front. It has a golden stamp "Made in England, Real Kid, 3KL".
Is anybody here who understands code like 3KL? It could stand for "Kid Leather" maybe, but I miss the systematic approach for the "3". Who has infos?
gmax, you could be right. My Buckingham Personal has a stamp "Real Calf" and "2CLF 7/8". So the "2" could stand for 2 pockets, and "7/8"" maybe for the size of the rings but I am not familiar to inches.
Yes the ring size in inches is part of the product code. And here's a little known fact - the designation for the popular Winchester model changed from 5CLF to 4CLF when two of the front pockets were merged into one larger one.
That makes sense bernhard. The product codes were dropped in the early 90's as part of the major changes to the range. Some of the high quality wallets continued to be made in England for a period afterwards.
The designation change I mentioned happened around 1985. Incidentally, only the calf leather Winchester models would say "CL". And the "F" indicated that the wallet has a fastener.
Thanks, gmax, for what I learnt: The real, real Filos have not only the golden stamp "Made in England" but also a product code indicating the material and number of pockets.
Do you know if there were even older characteristics, let's say in the 50-s or even before WW2?
I recently bought a vintage slimline, in black calf leather, with just 'Filofax' and 'Made in England' stamped in small gold letters inside the back cover. There are the usual two long diagonal pockets in the front, and two small credit card size pockets in the back, unlike the full length pocket in another maroon calf slimline I have. Interestingly, as well as having no product code, the black slimline has no 'f' stamped on the spine, so I think it must pre-date the 1980's?
Darn, I actually saw those gold corners when I first look at the pic, but I didn't know there were gold-cornered Filo's to begin with. How pathetic am I???
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laurie, for posting the photos.
ReplyDeleteHere some details about this Filo: I bought it end of the 1980-s but I don't remember where. Must have been in England because they gave me a brochure with it showing the entire Filofax system of 1987.
Here comes nostalgia: All products were manufactured of leather in best quality except the Billingham which was made of canvas and leather in order to complement the great camera bags of Billingham which were a must for professional photographers back then.
In this brochure one finds descriptions of the Filofax Duplex in double Persoanl size with 2 ring mechanisms. Top of the line was the deluxe Balmoral which holds 300 leaves. All models have the Personal format, no A5 and no pocket or even smaller Filos in the offering.
Even more interesting is the enormous choice of leaves for the Filo. There were paper sheets for business, art and design, church, investment, the military. Information leaves covered English and international data sets, maps and a "Filmfax" with 25 leaves for filmmakers giving information about lens angles, exposure and camera speed.
Let's go back to my own Filo again. Some readers looking for it in the photo were surprised that a Filo came with gold corners. Remember that Filofax was a posh product at that time.
This one even has no holders for credit cards but two diagonal pockets at the front. It has a golden stamp "Made in England, Real Kid, 3KL".
Is anybody here who understands code like 3KL? It could stand for "Kid Leather" maybe, but I miss the systematic approach for the "3". Who has infos?
This is lovely to see. That brochure is nice too.
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the "KL" part. The "3" refers to the number of pockets.
gmax, you could be right. My Buckingham Personal has a stamp "Real Calf" and "2CLF 7/8". So the "2" could stand for 2 pockets, and "7/8"" maybe for the size of the rings but I am not familiar to inches.
ReplyDeleteYes the ring size in inches is part of the product code.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's a little known fact - the designation for the popular Winchester model changed from 5CLF to 4CLF when two of the front pockets were merged into one larger one.
gmax, this is strange. My Winchester - which is my avatar - is stamped "MADE IN ENGLAND" and "REAL CALF" but no other code.
ReplyDeleteDo you happen to know when the designations were changed? I must have bought mine in 1994 at Heathrow airport.
That makes sense bernhard. The product codes were dropped in the early 90's as part of the major changes to the range. Some of the high quality wallets continued to be made in England for a period afterwards.
ReplyDeleteThe designation change I mentioned happened around 1985. Incidentally, only the calf leather Winchester models would say "CL". And the "F" indicated that the wallet has a fastener.
Thanks, gmax, for what I learnt: The real, real Filos have not only the golden stamp "Made in England" but also a product code indicating the material and number of pockets.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if there were even older characteristics, let's say in the 50-s or even before WW2?
It would be fascinating to find out about the product range prior to the 1980s. I know very little about this period.
ReplyDeleteThe earliest (1980's) Filos I've seen have gold stamped
fILOFAX
MADE IN ENGLAND
product code
all using a small font.
Maybe someone knows when this started, and what went before?
I recently bought a vintage slimline, in black calf leather, with just 'Filofax' and 'Made in England' stamped in small gold letters inside the back cover. There are the usual two long diagonal pockets in the front, and two small credit card size pockets in the back, unlike the full length pocket in another maroon calf slimline I have. Interestingly, as well as having no product code, the black slimline has no 'f' stamped on the spine, so I think it must pre-date the 1980's?
ReplyDelete