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27 July 2011

Filofax - Press Stud or Popper

You know the poppers that hold your Filofax closure in place, ok ok I hear you say, what can you write about poppers? To be honest I was thinking the same thing after I finished the post about the ring mechanism. But then I noticed something.....

OK the Press Stud as they are also called, has been around a long time and in use on Filofax organisers since they were invented as far as I know? Some organisers haven't used a press stud on the closing strap, some use a fancy latch closure like the Deco.

They used to be marked with the makers name PRYM, but these days they appear to be marked with Filofax, so may be they buy them in enough numbers to get their own name on them.

So let's get up close....



So the press stud comes in two halves, the female bit in the picture above, and the male in the picture below. I will let you work out why I've called them that, without getting rude! But it follows the usual plug and socket rules... think about it. 


So with me so far... in the picture is my Chameleon. Notice which part of the press stud is located on which part of the Filofax organiser.  So now we switch to my Malden.

 

Now your turn to play 'spot the difference'.... apart from one is black and the other is red!

OK time is up... notice how the male and female bits of the press stud have swapped places...  No I don't know why either...  

A quick check of my mini collection and the Finchley is the same as the Chameleon. The three Maldens are all the same as in the picture above.  Finsbury is the same as the Malden, likewise my old Winchester is the same as these two. 

It of course doesn't matter, but I was just intrigued when I noticed the difference!!

Now before you go away... on the inside of the strap you might notice three letters embossed in to the leather very close to the main body of the organiser. For instance on my red Malden they are 'SIV' and VBV on the black Chameleon.  These we believe are quality control letters to identify batches of organisers or similar. I won't claim to have discovered these.... that honour goes to someone on the Philofaxy Flickr Discussion Group back in 2008.

They aren't unique so you can't use them as a serial number, but it might be useful to make a note of the letters if you ever send a Filofax back for repair, you would know if you get the same one back again or not.
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14 comments:

  1. Laurie27 July, 2011 04:04

    Steve you are so observant! Of course I had to run and look at my Filos and here is the result:

    Personal size Buckingham and Urban have press studs with the male bit on the body of the binder, female on strap.

    Personal and A5 Finsburies have male part on the strap and female on the body of the binder.

    Wonder why?? Not that it matters, just interesting that it differs by model.

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  2. Steve Morton27 July, 2011 04:12

    I'm just an 'anorak' when it comes to stuff like that!

    My close sight being quite poor now, I tend to use a magnifier and when you are looking at things in such close up detail you tend to see things you would normally miss.

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  3. Laurie27 July, 2011 04:18

    LOL Steve you are indeed a Filofax anorak, and I mean that in the NICEST POSSIBLE way! :)

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  4. Unknown27 July, 2011 04:47

    I love these posts, there very mecanical minded hehe

    my friend calls the poppers stenson or something i cant remember maybe someone else will know what it is???

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  5. Unknown27 July, 2011 04:58

    P.s mine says SEV :-)

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  6. Unknown27 July, 2011 05:49

    It is a Preston, thats the name i was looking for

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  7. caribbean princess27 July, 2011 06:22

    I am not very observant so I didn't notice the numbers!

    My Malden is just like you described for yours.

    Male bits and female bits..... I see we are moving on to anatomy lessons!
    lol ;-)

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  8. shepcraig27 July, 2011 06:29

    I cant believe I never noticed this before, I wonder why some are one way and some are the other. I also just noticed that a couple of the finsburys I have have buttons on the clip and the rest dont, they must be real old. Thank you for filling my morning, just checked the whole lot

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  9. Lady_Tamlynn27 July, 2011 07:36

    I noticed the letters on my Urban the other day and I wondered what they were for. My Chameleon also has the letters VBV embossed on it - perhaps from the same batch as yours, Steve?

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  10. Tommes S.27 July, 2011 14:44

    Wow, I didn't know that there are such things to see - thank you, Steve! And I literally SAW the letters on the strap of my Mini Malden, which I also never encountered before (on any Filofax): S A W ;)

    Once again, thank you, I will have to take some closer looks in the future...

    Thomas

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  11. stirwise27 July, 2011 15:17

    My grey pocket Malden press stud says ECHT PRYM. Perhaps different models use different brands?
    When I get home tonight I'll check out my other Filos and Kate Spade binders, see which side the male and female bits are on. :)

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  12. SNARLing:27 July, 2011 19:18

    heh heh. good one. i might have to switch back to the Malden sine the female part is on top heh heh

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  13. Globetrotting Cacti28 July, 2011 13:34

    I had never noticed that before - love details like this.

    @SNARLing - that made me chuckle out loud!

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  14. Jess28 July, 2011 15:31

    this kind of post is the reason i love philofaxy. steve, you might be the king of the filofax anoraks but we are all just as bad in our own little ways!

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