The Filofax Chameleon came out in 2010 but only appears to have been in the range for a couple of years. By the 2012/13 catalogue it was no longer shown.
It was available in A5, Personal, Pocket and Mini. I bought a black Filofax Chameleon Pocket at one of the first meet ups in late 2010, I still have that pocket. It was used for many years as my log book in the car for recording fuel fill ups etc.
I really like that pocket the leather is very supple and it has worn well. One oddity with the pocket is that the pen loop is attached to the front cover not the usual back cover placement.
I did a review soon after getting the pocket which you will find here: Filofax Pocket Chameleon
A few years later I had a hankering to get the A5 Chameleon but of course it was few years out of production and I thought it would be very difficult to find one in good condition. My black pocket was holding up well. Some of the lighter coloured Chameleons show wear quite badly.
A reader contacted me after seeing my Wanted advert on the Adspot page about an A5 Chameleon in Black on Ebay. At first there were some issues about shipping it outside of UK, but after exchanging a few emails with the seller they agreed to ship it to me. I won the auction for just under £40 and with the postage add it was still a bargain.
It arrived in the original box and with all the original inserts and it was obvious it had never been used. That was in the middle of 2019!
I realised the other week that I've never reviewed the A5, or used it that much.... time to change both of those things.
The Chameleon has a 'scale' like pattern pressed in to the leather. Some people like this, some people hate this, I quite like it as it gives the organiser character I guess.
It uses a design of tapered clasp that was common to other organiser models in the Filofax range at the time.
The front inside cover includes 8 horizontal card slots, a business card slot, a vertical slip pocket and a vertical zip pocket and finally an elasticated pen loop.
The Filofax Chameleon A5 is fitted with 25mm rings, which are big enough for my needs. They also make the overall size (width and thickness) of the organiser quite compact too.
The scale pattered leather is also used on the interior as well.
In the rear inside cover is a notepad slot and another elasticated pen loop.
Unlike the pocket Chameleon the A5 version does appear to have some form of stiffener between the inner and outer layers of leather. It however does lay flat straight out of the box.
Overall I'm very pleased to have used this organiser for a few weeks and I will be coming back to it in the future.
Have you ever owned a Chameleon?
What questions or discussion points have you got for us today?
