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30 September 2015

New 2015 Van der Spek Touch Me Colours

As promised by Petra Van der Spek earlier this year, Van der Spek have now got two additional colours in their Touch Me range with Light Brown and Purple supplementing the Black and Brown in all sizes in the Touch Me range.

The Touch Me range is their lower priced range which are mass produced for Van der Spek and sold through their own web-shop. The organisers are very well designed and have lots of pockets. There is no stiffener used in their design, so the leather is very supple and soft. The organisers come fitted with Krause rings, just like their Custom range of organisers.

In addition to the two new colours there has been a small adjustment to the Senior model (A6) Petra sent me a couple of Seniors to look at this new design to let me cast my detailed eye over them.

Part of the redesign of the Senior model was to allow for 25mm rings, the previous model only had 20mm rings. So the organiser design needed to be made wider.

You might recall my review earlier this year of the Standard and Senior Touch Me organisers. This was the old design Senior size. To use A6 size inserts I have had to use top tabs to avoid issues with the tabs and the pen loop and pen being too close together. The old design was based on slightly narrower inserts (not true A6)

I'm pleased to say that with the redesign of the Senior size this issue has been addressed and the Touch Me Senior with 25 mm rings will now accept true A6 inserts with side tabs and there are no issues at all with the tabs and the pen/pen loop.

New Senior size fitted with true A6 inserts and dividers with side tabs, and pen, with no issues.

When closed the width of the organiser is now 150mm (not including the clasp) where as the old design is 135mm, those extra 15mm are needed to allow for the 5 mm increase in the ring size and the different page width. There is no difference in the height of the Senior it remains the same at 176mm.

The other models in the Touch Me range are as before, but with the addition of the two new colours. They come in:
  • Junior (the same as Filofax Pocket) with 16 mm rings
  • Standard (the same as Filofax Personal) with 30 mm rings, 25 mm rings also available. 
  • Senior (A6) there is no equivalent Filofax size to A6, with 25 mm rings 20mm also available
  • Manger A5 (the same as Filofax A5) with 35 mm rings
So what do they look like....

Light Brown Senior size

The old design Senior in front of the new design Senior note the width increase.

New and Old, slightly thicker to allow for the bigger rings. 

Purple Senior size


Interior design is unchanged. 

Light brown with a 'Janet Leather' 104 sample for comparison

Purple with samples of Viola(top left), 6216 (top right), 15 (bottom centre)

All four colours. Photo by Petra Van der Spek
All four colours. Photo by Petra Van der Spek

The current prices for the Touch Me range are:
  • Junior - €72  
  • Senior - €85
  • Standard - €95 
  • Manager - €115
All prices are subject to VAT if applicable and shipping will in addition.  The Touch Me range is available on the Van der Spek website along with their fully custom range too.

There is a very active and friendly Van der Spek community on Facebook, come and join us

Thank you to Petra Van der Spek for supplying the samples used in this review. 

6 comments:

  1. Hi Steve, thank you for the in depth review and pictures. :) Just wanted to let you know that I believe the new Seniors actually increased in price with the new release. The Senior I purchased on the website on day of release are listed at 85.00 euros. Makes sense that the price increased since the binders are larger with more leather. I am curious though, do we know if the older Senior models (with price 78.50 euros) that are narrow are still available? Other question, how does the binder look with 20mm with the new widened senior? Does it have a lot of extra room and is it awkwardly wide? Thanks again for all the work you do! See you on the FB group!

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    Replies
    1. Exactly my questions too! Website shows €85 and I too wonder if the 20mm ring mechanism will look lost in the new wider binder.

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    2. Corrected, it was pre-written a few weeks ago or that bit was!

      I can try some 20mm rings in one of the new ones, it would look a bit too big may be.

      Not sure if there are any of the old design still available, email Petra to ask.

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  2. Everything here that I wanted to know - and very clear pix! Thanks, Steve. Now to decide on a colour ...!

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  3. Might be persuaded out of my A5 Identity / Fusion, and into the Senior A6 as my EDC binder now....that brown is awesome and will only get better with age, I think.

    Thank you Petra, and Steve, and all at Van der Spek.....your forward thinking, and application of ideas is great, and it leaves others in your wake (are you listening FILOFAX?)

    Mac

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  4. Great review as always, Steve! Just ordered my new Manager (A5) Touch Me in Light Brown and can't wait to get it!!!

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