Guest post series - 'Filohax' No. 16 - Paul

Thanks very much again to Paul for this sixteenth instalment of his wonderful guest post series.
You can find all of the 'Filohax' posts here.   

Filofax Grosvenor review 

This is a review of a binder that I didn't know existed, and once I did, I didn't even like. I don't usually like gold rings or gold edges on my binders, so I'm not sure why I gave the 'Vintage Filofax Sherwood Black Gold Edge Leather 9KLF Organiser' a second look, I think it must have been that strange serial number - 9KLF. 

 

I checked it out on Filowiki - no entry, which only served to pique my interest further, and it was a search in the Filofax for Philofaxy Fans Facebook group that flagged up Michel L’s 20/12/17 post which named the 9KLF as a ‘Grosvenor'.

 

After looking in the 1990 catalogue, I could see that this model, being a high end model, came with its own protective pouch. (You can see a photo of one of the protective felt pouches in Guest Post – Dust Bags by gmax) And it was also only available in black. The game was on. 

After a bit of back and forth with the vendor, it was obvious this binder had problems - the popper not only looked a mess (it looked like someone had bodged gluing the popper back on), but had virtually lost its fastening capacity. The other black mark against buying it were the rings, fresh air was clearly visible between the top rings. And the 'pouch' was nowhere to be seen, long gone. 

 

A basket case? What spurred me on was knowing it was made of Kid leather, and after owning a Slimline Kid for a quarter of a century, I know how fabulous in the hand kid leather feels and how wonderfully it ages.

 

After asking for and getting a nearly 50% reduction I got it delivered. As soon as I held it, all of my apprehensions faded away. This binder had worked for its living, I knew that from the popper and rings, but it shows in the leather as a characterful lustre with a few dinks, which I always prefer to an unloved perfection. Unfortunately the vendor had picked it up in a charity shop, so didn't know its history.

 

The renovation

 

First of all, I consulted the online advice for repairing weak fastener press studs. I learned a lot from the YouTube video, namely, always ask the collective wisdom of this group first for advice, which I didn't do. So, it said that if the wires in the female part of the press stud couldn't be fixed (it looked like these had rusted and subsequently got too soft to hold the male side) to 'spread' the male part by applying pressure to it in a vice...why the alarm bells were not sounding in my head; I do not know! The result? What had been a very weak closer now had no grip at all, as all that had been achieved was to shorten the available male 'nob'... 

 

Plan B - I did consult the group search and found someone who had employed a cobbler to replace the press stud all together. Learning number 2: Cobblers have no aesthetic qualities at all and are not Leathersmiths. What I should have done is brief him on the exact size, position and colour of popper I wanted. What I got was a popper that a small child will NEVER open! I'm confident that if I ever drop the Grosvenor it will never pop open… He replaced the original Filofax popper with the next size up. Another learning from the exercise is an increased appreciation for the design nuances of the original Filofax designers as their choice of 'smaller is better ' is better. I'm not complaining, as I now have a functioning binder that will be containing credit cards, so I need the security. One improvement however is in the cobbler's choice of colour popper top - brass, which has two benefits over the original.

 

1. It more naturally colour matches the gold edgings.

2. The brass isn't a veneer as the original was, but solid brass...this baby is here to stay! The end result to my mind is a more masculine, functional looking binder than before. 

 

Oh, and did I mention flatability? It almost flops open and hits the desk with a very satisfying 'thwack', stays perfectly flat, 100% flat. Even the strap has perfect flatability (this is more important than you realise - once you've used a Pimlico you'll know what I mean )

 

Next I had to tackle the elephant in the room... the one nearly able to squeeze through the gaps in the top two rings!

 

Again, I sourced rings' wisdom and using a full pack of sticky notes to the good rings, I applied pressure to the top two gappy ones. After a bit of 'it's better/ it's worse' I'm able to turn the pages with no real snagging (I know this will probably upset a lot of people in the group, but we all need to get a grip, if you forgive the pun) when it comes to rings gaps…there are people with real problems in this world, and gaps in rings ain't one - I can use these and that's ok for now. I may get replacement rings as I go forward, I may not but as I don't care about resale value it's up to me. 

 

Day to day use - I have to say that the pocket configuration is an improvement on the classic Winchester, which has been my EDC to date. 

 

It's not just the credit card slots (which for total security would face inwards facing the rings, a la Portland/ Finsbury etc), but the inside front cover pocket is a revelation to me - if you whip open the cover to retrieve something the contents of the two pockets stays securely in the pockets 

 

 

(unlike Winchester pockets, which tend to spray their contents into the rings, if cards it's not a problem, but if coins then it is). The gusseted pocket is easily accessible, and gives great access to even small change, while the second ungusseted pocket is ideal for notes, receipts etc. The inside back cover credit card pockets are perfect - snug but easy to retrieve cards from. And the slip pocket underneath the cards is great for a small selection of inserts, saving the rings for your information, along with another six or so credit/ loyalty cards if the six slots aren't enough.

 

Pen loop - this is the first Filofax that I've been aware of that has its only pen loop on the front cover (experts please?), and its capacity is typical Filofax - fine for a pencil - not a problem as I will be storing my pen within the rings, as is my want!

 

What else is there to say? Size wise it's comparable to the Winchester, but slightly taller and narrower. I'm using it as my EDC / wallet, and although everywhere you look, people are being indoctrinated to carry less and less cash / wallets and doing more with less and less physical items, I'm going the other way…’stuff’ feels better and makes me feel better, and I have a sneaky feeling that the rest will join us sooner or later  

 

Postscript

 

After drafting this blog, I couldn't resist the urge to switch up the rings from the less than perfect 23mm gold rings to my 25mm silver set, which had formerly graced my previous EDC Winchester. So, rather than those languishing in a now storage binder, I've put them back into front line duty and I'm happy that I've got a little more capacity to grow into - as I inevitably always do!