Silent Sunday

Mulberry A5 planner

 

Mulberry A5 ring mechanisms

The Mulberry A5 organisers are a little unusual in that the ring mechanism uses the same ring spacing as Filofax Personal size. (The left hand ring mech in the photo above) 

This is ok if you are using their own brand inserts, but it can be a bit limiting if you want to buy pre-printed and pre-punched inserts. 

Oliver, one of our readers contacted me about the prospect of changing the ring mechanism in his Mulberry A5 for one that was the same spacing as a normal A5 Filofax. 

I approached this cautiously at first having investigated this with another reader in the past. Whilst the rings on theirs were the removable type, they were the PXR type, which uses two posts and spring clips to hold ring mechanism in place. These are not only difficult to remove, but virtually impossible to obtain new. 

There is another possible solution to this type, but I need to investigate this idea further. 

Oliver and I hooked up with a quick video call to investigate his Mulberry A5. 

I first of all guided him in to removing just the top cover. This is fairly easy to do by just easing it off one section at a time. We then removed the tabs with the rings open. 

He then showed me the inside of the ring mechanism, so we could establish the type of mechanism fitted to it. There were no holes in the ring halves that would have indicated it was the PXR type.  Looking down the length of the ring mechanism with the rings open we couldn't see the posts on the underside of the ring halves. It was therefore a safe bet that they were the PER type of Krause rings. 

The next step was to pull the rings apart to investigate the mountings of the base plate. After a few attempts Oliver managed to spring the ring halves apart and we were then able to see that the base plate was '3 point mounting' and the mounting distance was the same as available from Gillio and Van der Spek. 

Oliver was able to reassemble the original Mulberry A5 rings and he ordered a set of Krause 25mm rings which arrived a few days later. I gave him some tips on how to install the rings and my in-box pinged this morning with the above photograph. 

Oliver now has an A5 Mulberry with conventional spaced A5 rings. 😊

Two organisers I had almost forgotten about!

Are there any organisers that you had thoughts about buying, but then something else comes along and you buy that instead? Then they may be change the design, so you never buy one or you never see one that you like? 

All #FirstWorldProblems I know! but sometimes you eventually manage to fulfil you desire to own one. 

In the last few weeks I've filled in two of my 'Wanted one day' gaps in my organiser collection. 

The first was the Filofax Kensington. I know there are several people who are fans of this model including Anita. It has sort of slid past me until recently. This one I got from Alan in Canada, who kindly donated it to me and I gave a donation to Chimwemwe. Thank you Alan.

Back in about 2012/13 I became aware of the Mulberry Agenda, whilst looking for other brands of organisers to blog about. At first I couldn't work out what the ring spacing was. I ended up working it out from a screenshot and by estimation! Crude but effective.

Realising this was a bit different and was in fact A6 size I thought about purchasing one. For several reasons I didn't order one. The prices of new ones seemed to vary quite a bit. The price in UK compared to France seemed to be more than just the difference in the exchange rate, which put me off I suppose. 

Then whilst I was pontificating about what to do, along came Gillio and then Van der Spek in to my field of vision and the Mulberry purchase got pushed out of my mind for a while. 

By the time I started to think about it again Mulberry had changed their design and had started to use their 'Postman's Lock' type clasp, which I wasn't so keen on. Likewise they had moved away from 'traditional' coloured leathers to more 'fashionable' colours! 

Move forward to a couple of weeks ago when one of our readers sent in an advert for Adspot... and there it was.... a black Mulberry in excellent used condition from a few years ago. The advert never got on to the page, my response was 'How much for shipping to France?' 

The deal was done within an hour and the item was posted to me later that day!! Such is the danger of maintaining the Adspot page!

The inserts are very high quality. 

Krause 23 mm rings are fitted to this Mulberry Agenda. 

I love the simplicity of the design of the Mulberry. The covers do have some stiffener in-between the inner and outer leather, but that means it is easy to write in when there isn't a flat surface to hand. It has a decent selection of pockets in the front and back covers. 

I gave it a little TLC in the form of some beeswax leather conditioner and the lustre and shine in the leather was restored fully. 

Vintage Mulberry agenda: take two - by Anita

Following on from my post about cycles of buying and selling, I thought that I would reveal to you my third and final binder. Whilst I loved my previous Mulberry agenda, I wasn't convinced about keeping it as all my inserts are in Filofax personal size. However, I've since realised that I could buy paper quite cheaply, or cut up other notebooks or paper that I already have around the house.

I was having a little look on eBay, as you do, and came across this wonderful croc Mulberry for a great price (I managed to knock £10 off the buy it now price with a cheaper offer too).

It's in much better condition than my previous one and I love the pattern which reminds me of a mixture between an Ascot and a Dundee (best of both worlds). I have seen it described by owners/sellers as both Congo and croc, so contacted Mulberry to ask they could confirm for me. It seems that their photographic records don't go back that far, but I'm lucky that a member of their staff recognised it as walnut Nile leather. The internal layout is exactly the same, and the secretarial pocket plus the gusseted zipped one make a great combination in my opinion.

The Mulberry leather is wonderful. I know that this would've been pretty expensive new, but I'd be happy to shove it in a bag as it's definitely not delicate. When it arrived, there was this scratch on the front which you can see now barely shows in my first picture. I slightly dampened the area and then rubbed with my finger and the leather got its shine back. It was described as 'used but well loved and great patina', so I was happy anyway, especially at the price that I paid.

Once again, it has that great little design feature that the strap shortens or lengthens, depending on which popper you want to use. It's also handy as it tucks out of the way when you're writing inside.

After I'd left feedback on eBay, I contacted the seller to ask if she knew anything about its history. She had actually sold it on behalf of a friend and then very kindly passed on the lady's name and phone number (with her permission). She also said the following - 'I know it was bought in Norway when she worked for someone she's not allowed to talk about, wink, wink !! It's an interesting story'. I had to follow that up as I was curious... I finally managed to get through to the previous owner, and she was polite, but obviously a little bemused about my interest. I explained about being a planner nerd and that I was writing a post for here, hoping to hear a little more. Basically, she told me that she'd purchased it in Oslo about 25 years ago in the small Mulberry shop there, which was before when the company was more well known. And that was it! I politely thanked her and laughed lots once I was off the phone, as either the friend had misunderstood, or the lady decided that she actually didn't want to tell me after all.

I have a suspicion that I may not have purchased my Holborn if I'd found this first, but I feel that I have a good range to choose from. Whilst I love both my Kensington and Holborn, I think that if I had to choose only one, it might be this one. However, that decision may have changed by next week so I'll be keeping the three for now...

My Mulberry Agenda history and repairs by Anita

As mentioned in my previous post, I am very fortunate as my Mum-in-law's neighbour gave me a Mulberry Agenda. The phone conversation went a bit like this:

• "My neighbour has given me an old Filofax for you and she doesn't want anything for it" - woo hoo! 
• "It was a bit dirty, so I gave it a wash and tried to give it a bit of a clean with furniture polish. Umm, it's changed colour" - uh oh...   

The exterior colour had been the same as the interior, but I think the leather was so dry that it just sucked up all the polish. It still felt very dry and was looking a bit unloved. 

Looking under the secretarial pocket, you can see what the wonderful leather was originally like.

The original owner had purchased it from the Mulberry factory shop in 1990 and had used it for many years. I wonder if it had been banished to a shed as it smelled faintly of woodsmoke, and had some furniture tacks in the pocket (large safety pin in photo for size reference).

I contacted Mulberry to ask if they have any information about this particular model and this was their response:
'Regrettably, our photographic archive does not stretch back that far but I can see that there were textured leathers used around that time in the production of agendas which were labelled as Reed Leather, Cane Leather and Bamboo Leather. This may be one of those leathers but as there are no photographs available, it is impossible to ascertain'.

Due to the A6 paper size, I just couldn't see myself using it and gave it to the lovely Jane. She kindly sent me updates as she had taken it to a boot repair shop to see if they could do anything to help. The outside has been dyed a lovely chocolate brown, has been cleaned properly and conditioned to within an inch of its life.

After realising that A6 paper size might be better for me, I couldn't wait to dive in and start using it once it arrived back in the UK. However, probably due to old age and two lots of international shipping, it had developed a tear in the leather at the spine and was definitely getting worse with use .

After previously getting my A5 Ascot repaired, I thought it was worth a try so popped into town with it. Unfortunately the shop I used before has closed down, and the other two immediately said that they couldn't help. I offered to remove the ring mechanism, but the more traditional shop of the two said that the metal inside the spine would prevent them from putting it on their machine.

I came to the conclusion that I would start to use it anyway, but was disappointed. And then I wondered about if there were other places that might offer leather repairs. I came across an equestrian shop ('saddlers and riding outfitters' as they describe themselves) that I had visited when I was a kid as I used to ride quite a bit and my sister had a pony. The initial response was very different from the shoe repair places as he confidently said, "Oh yes, I'm sure that we can do something with that".

I collected it today and don't think that I could be any more delighted with their repair.

restitching inside

The patch matches the colour and smells wonderful!

 
I know that the patch might not be for some of you that like your binders in perfect condition, but I love that this all just adds to its history and character.

Thinking about pages sizes - by Anita

Since getting my first Filofax in 2009, I have been pretty faithful to using the personal size. I had a brief trial of using A5 as my sole binder, but whilst I love the page size I found that the binder itself was just too large to carry around. Personal is the best fit for me in terms of page size and portability. However, I do feel that whilst its narrow insert width is perfect for making lists, it's never felt quite right for me for writing more extensive notes or for planning projects. 

Up until recently I have been using two binders together - a personal as my main extended brain, with an A5 for planning. Whilst on paper (bad pun, sorry) this sounds perfect, I have finally admitted that using two binders at once isn't for me. I originally purchased a Filofax as I was using multiple notebooks and wanted to have everything in one place. Sorry Mr Hamilton, but you will be finding a new home soon!

During a conversation on Facebook, it occurred to me that the A6 paper size might be perfect as somehow the wider but shorter dimensions seem better for writing notes, and look more 'right' as it's a quarter of the A4 size (which folk in the UK are more used to).   

L to R: personal, A6 and pocket

Whilst I still love my oxblood Winchester, I admit at this point I started looking at custom Van der Speks in the Senior size. However, I feel very fortunate due to the following train of events:

• I was given a vintage Mulberry Agenda by a relative's neighbour, but she didn't want anything for it as it wasn't in the best condition
• At the time, I couldn't imagine changing planner size so gave it to the lovely Jane
• She found that it was too small for her and was considering asking if I wanted it back
• She read my post on Facebook, and after a holiday in the US it is back home with me
• I remembered that my KW-Trio hole punch also does Agenda size. 

I will be writing some follow up posts about the Mulberry, my set up and how I find being back in just the one binder.

The battle of the A5s

I recently bought myself a Kindle Paperwhite which I am enjoying immensely. I ordered myself a couple of cases, one of which was the Malden eReader sleeve which is on sale at the moment. I've always admired the ochre Maldens, despite never owning one, so thought that this would be a cheap and useful way to enjoy one without getting another binder. The eReader sleeve is very similar to the iPad sleeve that Steve reviewed here. As it turns out, I returned the eReader sleeve as it was a bit on the large size for my Kindle, but the ochre leather was beautiful. 

I've been using the A5 Mulberry planner, but despite loving it I'd really been missing having a notepad at the back. I still haven't got round to selling the red Amazona and that does have a notepad pocket, so I suppose I've been a bit indecisive about which A5 to keep. For a while, I did consider keeping both, but I know what I'm like and hence we have the battle of the A5s! 

Here are the initial contenders. 

    

I had thought that they would be the only ones I would be choosing between, but I admit that the siren song of the ochre A5 Malden was hard to ignore. The little train of events went something like this:

• Fall in love with the yummy ochre leather on the eReader sleeve
• Tell myself repeatedly that I already have two perfectly decent A5s to choose from
• Find myself looking at pictures of ochre Maldens in the Philofaxy Flickr pool (tell myself repeatedly to stop looking and fail)
• Find out that ochre A5s have 25% off at WHSmith (sadly out of stock now)
• Remember that I still have a £25 gift voucher for WHSmith!

And the final line up is...

I ordered two Maldens as the leather finish can be so different and returned one. I was very lucky to receive two that had perfect rings with no damage. At this point, I think that I'd already made my decision that the Malden would be the keeper. It took me quite a while to decide that my crimson Malden was 'the one', but I just didn't want to take as long with settling on the A5 for me. 

I could definitely see Indiana Jones having an ochre A5 on his desk when he's lecturing. 

Mulberry A5 planner

I don't really know very much about Mulberry, other than that they make beautiful leather goods that are normally out of my comfortable price range. From time to time, they pop up in an eBay search, but normally they go for more money than I'd be willing to pay. And then one day, I saw one for a pretty reasonable buy it now price and figured it might be worth the risk. The listing called it a red/burgundy vintage 90's Mulberry leather diary/Filofax, it looked fairly good condition from the photos and it said that it was the agenda size at 7" x 9" approximately. I didn't take much notice of the measurements given and figured it would take A6 size paper.

I was a bit surprised by the size of the padded envelope it came in and it definitely felt heavier than I was expecting. On opening it, I realised why as it is actually the discontinued A5 planner size instead! The next thing that I noticed was that it was quite dirty and sticky for some reason. It took a bit of TLC with several wet wipes, drying off with tissue and then some Nivea hand cream to get it ready for its photo shoot.

It's a stunning binder.
On the left, there is a full length pocket, two smaller handy secretarial pockets, an ID window and three card slots. On the right, there is another full length pocket, a large gusseted zipped pocket and the single pen loop. On first inspection, the pen loop didn't look particularly large, but with a tiny amount of persuasion my Lamy Safari fits quite nicely.

The fastener comes with a double popper setting, and quite cleverly extends or can be pushed back into the recess on the back.

I think the A5 planner is a bit of a strange beast as it takes A5 paper, but uses the personal size ring mechanism, which could be more handy if you don't have an adjustable punch. As you can see from the photo below, the A5 sheet of paper has both standard A5 and personal holes punched together. I don't own any washi tape, but I would imagine that you could use some to help reinforce where all the holes are lined up together.

If I was going to be using this planner, I'd probably just hole punch some A5 notebooks that I have, but what options are there for buying A5 sheets with personal size spacing?

• Mulberry still sell a limited amount of planner size inserts which will fit (you need to scroll down to find them)
• Steve also helpfully pointed out that the Quo Vadis Timer 21 Range will also fit without the need for re-punching. 

It's quite slim for an A5 with 23mm rings, no bulky pockets and the sturdy leather itself doesn't seem to have any padding. So, if you're looking for a slimline A5 I would recommend one of these. I think, for me, the only thing missing is a notepad pocket on the right. I know that this would add to the overall bulk, but I find that I scribble lots more in the A5 size and it's so handy to have a pad at the back.

Ironically, after writing this post I shortly found that I was missing using the A5 size as it's so handy for helping to deal with A4 paperwork. I have decided that my 2014 set up will consist of two binders as I've realised two important things:

1. Despite having minimalistic tendencies, I am allowed to own more than one binder as I enjoy using them and they will help me become more organised
2. I cannot possibly fit everything into my personal crimson Malden, and the additional storage and page space the A5 provides will encourage me to plan and write more.

Rapesco Diary Punch 66-P - Updated Review

I reviewed this punch shortly after buying it in August 2009. So think of this as 'Long Term Review' a bit like you see in Car Magazine!  I've updated the information and added some more details as well.

Do you have a Personal size and Pocket size organiser? Or just one of those two sizes? And you want to be able to punch your own pages, but the cost of a Filofax Punch seems a bit high at £27.75 each ($55 or €49)? Then this punch at a typical price of about £10 plus postage might be your answer...

The Rapesco Diary Punch 66-P has two sets of sliding punch blocks which you can easily move in their slots. Each punch block has three 6mm punches spaced 19mm (3/4") apart.

With the punch blocks in the outer most position, it will punch up to 8 sheets of paper for a Personal size organiser. Slide both punch blocks fully towards the centre and it punches 6 holes perfectly spaced for a Pocket Filofax. As the Mini uses the same ring spacing as the Pocket but only 5 rings not 6 this punch works for that size as well.

The punch also has a middle setting for both punch blocks this equates to a 38mm spacing between the two sets of three holes. This is the setting to use if you have a Mulberry A6 size organiser.

It will not punch pages for an A5 as standard, although with a little bit of experimenting (remember I am an engineer!) you can punch holes the right spacing for an A5 organiser, but it involves two punches of the three holes and careful alignment in the punch. You need to punch it twice with the top or the bottom of the paper 32mm above the centre line of the highest hole. The paper will be just beyond the centre of the punch.

The punch is easy to empty, the whole base unclips... but don't do as I did... turn it upside down on my desk only to discover that because it has the slots... the chads (the bits of punched paper) manage to escape through the slots!!

I have had the punch for 3 years now, admittedly not in daily use but I would recommend it to anyone who has a Filofax or Mulberry organiser. 

Mulberry Inserts in Filofax Organisers.

We have seen quite a bit of discussion and interest in Mulberry Organisers/Refills whilst they look similar in size to Filofax, they needed further investigation to confirm the page sizes and hole spacings.

I'm very grateful for Mulberry Customer Services for supplying the information below.

Parameter(Filofax/Mulberry)	Filofax	Mulberry
Paper size (Pocket)	120x81 mm	120x76mm
Paper size (Personal/Agenda)	171x95 mm	149x105mm (A6)
Paper size (A5/Planner)	210x148mm	209x147mm
'3 ring spacing'	19mm (3/4")	19mm
Ring Spacing between rings 3 and 4 (Pocket)	19mm	19mm
Ring Spacing between rings 3 and 4 (Personal/Agenda)	50mm	38mm
Ring Spacing between rings 3 and 4 (A5/Planner)	70mm	50mm

Examining the figures for the A5 size and drawing the locations of the holes on a plain sheet of paper. The only holes that are in the same location are holes 3 and 4 on the Filofax line up with holes 2 and 5 on a Mulberry sheet.

As you will see holes 1 and 6 on the Mulberry set are very close to holes 2 and 5 on the Filofax set, this might be a problem with long term use.

Going back to Quo Vadis for a moment, their Timer 14 (Pocket Filofax) and Timer 17 (Personal Filofax) use exactly the same hole spacing as Filofax so no  need to re-punch. However, their Timer 21 (Filofax A5) uses slightly different ring spacing.  The '3 ring spacing' is still 19 mm, but the distance between holes 3 and 4 is 50 mm. This results in the 3 holes being offset from the Filofax 3 holes as shown below.

As you will see the holes are equally spaced between each other. In use I've not experienced any 'hole tearing' with the QV Timer 21 inserts when used in an A5 Filofax

Vintage Mulberry

Here is another excellent guest post from Bernhard, about a brand similar to Filofax that I am not familiar with:  Mulberry.

Even more "Filo" than Filofax

On July 6, 21.47 CET ends an eBay auction for a vintage Mulberry organiser. This binder looks real classic with only slight traces of handling.

In the 80-s, Filofax and Mulberry were equal competitors but Filofax managed to become better known. The Filofax Personal paper format was copied by many no-name manufacturers so one could buy it in almost any stationery.

The Mulberry was the more exclusive brand with higher prices for the binders, only a few retailers and a different paper size than the Filofax Personal.

Today, Filofax offers a middle-priced range of organisers produced in unknown factories all over the world. Mulberry however developed to be an extreme luxury brand with various "Agendas" (14 x 17,5 cm) for 225 Pounds each and "Planners" (A5) for 325 Pounds.

Although these prices are astronomically high for a binder, a look at the Mulberry.com website shows that these products are not stamped "Made in England" any more. They carry the Mulberry legend and logo, that's it.

My advice for anybody who wants to buy this vintage binder: Go for it, but do not forget that Mulberry uses an other paper format than your Filofax. You can not fill the Mulberry with your Filofax papers. Good luck anyway!