Filofax vintage 4BLCF Billingham personal

Now and then I come across something from filofax, that I have not seen before and this is one of them, the Billingham  4BLCF 7/8 has calf leather interior and exterior, but as you can see the it has panels on the front and rear of a canvas material.
Not too elegant was my first thought and that has not changed much. However after refurbishing it and adding some papers, I have started to warm to it. It feels great to hold as has no structure and looks nicely understated. Anyway you can decide what you think, but for now I shall hang onto it.

Filofax Osterley

The Osterley filofax is a must for those whom love the crocodile style leather lovers. Available in various filofax sizes (pocket, compact, slimline, personal, and A5) and in at least three colours (brown, Plum & orange/tan).
Although quite firm to touch the leather will soften with use and is still durable. As with many filofax binders the design is quite minimal, as in the binder is basically one or two pieces of leather, with rings in the middle. That's sounds like a negative but it's not, as this allows for all but the A5 to fit in your hand or bag with comparative ease, which if on the move is what you want.

The Osterley was a top of the range binder in the naughties and thus the cost was high. Its made from Italian leather and features a bronze like popper upon the clasp. There are two pen loops on all models and several sleeves internally. The filofax rings are changeable and serviceable as they are not riveted.

Filofax Ascot

This is a beautiful American made Ascot in stunning blue leather. Although it has done a service it is still glorious to look at and use. The leather shines and its colour is rich. With two leather pen loops, card sleeves, a zipped pocket and large 30mm rings its also very practical.

Very rare now but if you are lucky enough to find one in great condition, it will somehow seem fantastic value against the cost of a new filofax.

filofax Scanda personal size

A quite rare and unusual filofax. Rare due to its original high cost and unusual for two reasons, firstly this filofax has a closure strap as opposed to a popper of zip closure. Secondly the appearance of the distressed leather, tells the eye that its hard, tough or coarse. That is until you handle it and you find that it is soft, cushioned and flexible.

Brown in colour with blue accents, sounds odd but it works. Inside there are two pen loops, six card sleeves, larger document sleeve and a large flexible cash or document pouch or sleeve at the back. The 23mm ringshave a leather cover to the ring plate, a feature I have only seen upon the "Luxe" model previously.

The strap closure actually works quite well, I say that as I had previously imagined that this method of keeping the papers in place, meant that you had to limit what was contained or it may come undo during handling or on the move, but the strap on the Scanda seems to stay in place, even if you fill the rings with inserts.

I have not come across this model in other sizes and I suspect that it was only made in personal size.
(171 x 95mm inserts)

Lefax Facts Highway & Surveying Tables

The information available in the form of a Lefax binder, many years ago was so amazing and interesting. The example I have here is a personal sized binder Leaf & facts for Highway & Surveying Tables, is crammed full of calculations for the road and bridge building engineer.
The original owner L D Purdin used this during the 1940's and the binder still contains the pencil notes made when it was in use. Remarkably the binder is still in one piece. I have taken a few pictures so that you can get an idea of the amount of information contained within the Lefax.