23 March 2023

Filofax York - Revisited

Looking back through Philofaxy from around about 2015 last weekend, I thought this post deserved to be revisited with a new eye to details we have learnt since then. 

1993 was a period of transition for the Filofax company, they were ending production of organisers in UK and in this case in Italy and sending production overseas to the Far East, where I suspect production costs were only a fraction of what they were in UK and Europe. 

This era was in my opinion has the best quality organisers in their range. The accuracy and closeness of the stitching on this York is a joy to look at. 


When one of our readers offered me a Filofax York I found it very hard to say no. It wasn't a model I was familiar with, but when I saw the picture and description in the 1993 catalogue I couldn't wait to see it for myself.

A catalogue picture is one thing, but to actually hold one in your own hands is another thing.


As you can see it shares the interior design with the Sherwood as did other models at the time.

A very pleasant surprise when the parcel arrived was the original box. This was a time capsule of Filofax nostalgia. I love the full description on the label of the box. And the embossed 'f' in the box lid adds a lovely touch to it.


So inside this is the York in tan calf leather.


A skinny clasp similar to lots of models at the time.


Two pen loops, not elasticated though. 


Note the square profile of the spine, unlike current models that tend to be more rounded.


Eight card slots, enough for most people I would think! Note the  fILOFAX of England, York, Calf Leather, Made in Italy below the card slots . 


A neat pocket and zip pocket in the back cover.


The f on the spine, we have been trying to establish when Filofax started adding this feature. I like the contrast stitching although it blends in nicely on this model. There are no quality control three letter codes on the inside of the clasp or anywhere else on the organiser as far as I can see.


I don't know the history of this particular organiser, it is not surprising that it doesn't lay flat it looks unused to me or virtually unused. The pen loops are still flat, the leather is in beautifully clean and unmarked condition.

There is no quality control stamp on the inside of the clasp so this example could be older than 1993, but there's no mention of the York in the 1991 price list.

It might have been a lovely gift to someone back in about 1993. May be they already owned a Winchester and didn't want to move out of it, but I'm smitten with it. It really is a lovely organiser to own and use.

6 comments:

  1. I have a Tejus from the same era. It is just beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the 'skinny clasp' description - if it ain't skinny I ain't having it is my motto!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow - the wonderful leather (I can almost feel it between my fingers), the colour, the contrast stitching - I would swap it in a heartbeat for my Chester which has the same layout and also the square spine profile.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Exquisite. Really nice.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The York binder looks wonderful. The Dundee and Chester models have exactly the same arrangement of pockets.

    ReplyDelete