Filofax Classic Croc A5 personal organiser - Review

It has been a little while since I last reviewed a new Filofax model, but after seeing the publicity about the new Classic Croc model I was intrigued to take a closer look. There were several things about the design which peaked my attention.

So it was with a lot of anticipation this morning that I opened the parcel from Filofax that arrived by courier.  I carefully opened the box. And saw a plain white box inside, it was labelled and bar coded classic croc A5 chestnut. Slip the tab I opened to find another box inside.

Yes the return of nice Filofax boxes... tick

Inside was a nicely wrapped organiser in soft paper. I slipped that off.

And then the new style plastic wrapper too. I suspect that is so a retailer can display these on their shelves etc.

With that out of the way finally I had the organiser in my hands. Instantly I could tell I was going to like this one, although normally I'm not a croc leather fan, there was something different about this one.



I really like the broad closure strap, some of you I know will say 'Oh it's the same as.....' but who did come up with that design of clasp first? As you can see in a post of mine last year, this style has been used by a few companies now going back a few years. I do prefer the broader ones though.

The clasp is also of reasonable length too, allowing for a thickness of the organiser of about 4 cm. This gets another tick in the box. Some previous Filofax models have been a little mean on clasp length.

The A5 Classic Croc lays nice and flat when open.

I removed the inserts and put those to one side for a moment as well as the foam ring protector. So I could take a more detailed look at the organiser.

You will see even the A5 has a full width back pocket this can take A4 sheets of paper easily. That is another feature ticked off the list of requests.

The back pocket is lined as are all the pockets with a textile material, it is of good thickness and feels like it will take a lot of wear and tear.

Interior.
There are plenty of pockets on this model. I think this photo will help show where they all are. So there is plenty capacity for other loose paper work to be stored.

The zipper clasp hides behind a small leather tab when fully closed. This is a simple but neat design solution that others should take note of.

The zip pocket is gusseted at the bottom so it has lots of capacity for even the largest of smart phones. My iPhone 6 had lots of space to get lost in there.

The open aperture in to the pocket measures approximately 18 cm and iPhone 6S Plus is 15.8 cm in length. The zip pocket on the A5 is approximately 12 cm deep, the iPhone 6S Plus is 7.8 cm in width. It should be a perfect fit I would think.  With the zip opening being close to the outside edge it is easy to access the contents of the zip pocket.

Pen loops
There are two elasticated pen loops, fully elasticated too, they have a small leather flap that covers them when not in use. This flap is not sewn to the loop, so the loop can fully expand. This means it will easily take even the largest of pens. I managed to get the leather flap to stay up for a few seconds to take the photo below.

I put in two Pilot Metropolitan fountain pens, these measure about 13 mm at their broadest diameter. I also added some additional paper to 'fill out' the rings to close to the normal sort of level, to show how the two pens fit when the organiser is a 'expanded' a little bit more than with just the inserts supplied.

I think opinions might vary about the leather flaps on the pen loops. I'm not sure myself yet.

We haven't mentioned the card slots yet, on the A5 there are 9 of them in total. I popped in some Philofaxy cards so you can see them.

Rings
The A5 Classic Croc comes fitted with 30mm rings. These are described as a 'premium ring mechanism' in the publicity. They feature a polished cover plate and you will notice the absence of rivet heads.

I had to take a closer look to see how they are mounted. So out came my 'ring tools' and off came the cover plate.

Internally they look very similar to any other ring mechanism. But you might notice two holes between rings 1 and 2 and 5 and 6 counting from the top or the bottom. This is the fixing post of the back plate. The back plate is inserted inside the leather and the posts stick out vertically.

If we then take a closer look down through the holes, you might just be able to make out two 'claws' that grip on to the vertical posts. These are the same as the Krause PXR ring mechanisms. The attachment method is very strong and uses an internal star washer to hold the mechanism in place.

Zooming in a little closer.

This type of fixing means that the rings are replaceable, although they use a different method of fixing to the ones we normally see on Gillio and Van der Spek organisers. But unlike other Filofax models that have riveted in ring mechanisms, the ones fitted to this model are replaceable with the same type without the risk of permanent damage to the leather or the construction of the organiser. Another tick in the box for Filofax.

Talking of construction, there is some sniffener between the layers of leather, but it feels quite thin and whilst you can't roll it up like a Swiss roll as you can an A5 Malden. It is no where near as stiff as the Filofax Classics of old. They have chosen a very good compromise I think on the A5 to make it feel soft and pliable in your hands, whilst maintaining some structure to the organiser to allow it to be used in your hand away from a desk or flat surface.  Yes that gets another tick in the box from me.

Inserts
The A5 Classic Croc comes with the following inserts/accessories.

• week on two pages diary
• ruler/page marker
• to do
• contacts
• indices
• white notepaper
• coloured notepaper
• Top opening envelope

The print is all in black ink on slightly off white paper. The style is similar if not the same as Cotton Cream inserts of a few years ago.

I did a quick pen test on a sheet of the plain paper, you can view the results here:

• Front side and Reverse Side

All models are available in the following three colours. Chestnut (as shown in this review), Indigo and Fawn:

Indigo

Fawn

Pricing.
The pricing of the Classic Croc is as follows:

• A5 - £179.00  
• Personal - £135.00
• Compact - £129.00
• Pocket - £99.00

Are these prices reasonable? The price in Euros is about €245 for the A5 model.

A Custom A5 Manager Van der Spek, with two pen loops and a full back pocket would be about €319 (£243). An A5 Gillio Compagna would be between €390 (£297) - €420 (£320). All prices including VAT

In the case of the Van der Spek you are getting a custom organiser with a vast range of leather types and colours, hand made in a small family workshop in the Netherlands together with top quality rings and metal fittings and excellent customer service and high quality leather work.

With the Gillio again you are getting a hand made organiser, that is made with vegetable tanned leather and excellent customer service and high quality leather work.

The Filofax is going to be mass produced in far greater numbers. The sample I received has very good quality rings fitted to it. The leather smells great and is of good quality too. All things considered in my opinion I think it is a reasonable price for this quality of Filofax.

If previous Filofax Maldens are anything to go by, if you like this model and the colours buy it now because in a few years time we are bound to see it on Ebay at 3 or 4 times the current retail price! 

Availability
The Classic Croc is available on the Filofax UK website. I'm waiting to hear when Filofax USA will have these in stock.

However, Appelboom (NL) in the Netherlands have them on their website already and you will most probably find their shipping rates to the USA more acceptable too. They will also deduct the VAT as well for non-EU destinations.

Conclusions
I think that the Filofax Classic Croc is a welcome return for those of us that are seeking a quality product at a reasonable price point. It is well made and has some excellent design features built in to the design. I'm hopeful that the team have come up with some other models that are also of this quality in non-croco leathers.

Thank you to Filofax UK for supplying the review sample.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below. If there is anything I have overlooked please ask and I will do my best to answer any questions you might have.