De Villiers slimline organiser

I had a little nose around eBay the other day, as you do, and came across a binder with the title of 'red leather organiser 7.25" by 4.5" Well used Filofax inserts de Villiers'. I was a little intrigued and had a further look at the listing, laughing at the very honest 'seems also to have been used as a glass mat or coffee saucer' description! And I agree with their truthful statement...

However, the price was reasonable and it just struck me as having such character, that I found myself clicking on Buy It Now. 

Looking around online, I can find almost nothing about the De Villiers company (lots about the cricketer though), and all that comes up is an old Philofaxy post here and KateTPS has an A5 one, but also said she can't find much about them either.

On the inside left, there are a generous ten card slots (wow) and two full length pockets on the right hand side.

The Krause rings close with a healthy snap and it holds quite a lot for its size. I never feel very accurate at measuring ring size, but working on how to measure my Malden at 23mm, the De Villiers come up at a generous 17mm. 

It came with an interesting mix of inserts with different dates: 1997 world map, 2003 today ruler, some 2006 and 2008 pages and two 1999 maps of London.

Also, a De Villiers today ruler - showing fuel cost at 22p per litre!

I quite like the 1988 Lefax calorie guide UK, with some items that probably wouldn't be included on a similar list today, like caviar, roast goose or shelled lobster!

I don't know about you, but I love it when people leave little items behind in secondhand items, as it gives me a glimpse into what the previous owner might have been like. I found a receipt from Heathrow airport dated September 1999, and a slip of paper with the name of the luxurious Hotel Schatzalp, which is a former sanatorium in the Swiss mountain town of Davos. I wonder if the previous owner had it on the table next to them, whilst looking out over the Alps with a coffee?? Unfortunately the eBay seller knew nothing of the binder's previous history.   

I have tried out the slimline size before and as you can see below, it would be much slimmer to pop in my bag for when I'm out and about. However, I think I'm much too attached to my Malden and couldn't imagine using anything else as my main filo.

I'm not a fan of having filos that aren't being used & I really don't need another one, so I have decided to give this to Steve as a little gift to say thank you for all the hard work that he does for Philofaxy. Thanks, Steve!