In Part 1, I covered pocket slim Filofaxes from the 1980s and 1990s, from the birth of the pocket Filofaxes as a small-ringed, no-fastener organizer, through their first few years when they transitioned to a standard configuration having larger rings, pen loops, and snap fasteners.

The first official catalog appearance of a pocket slim Filofax in the new millennium seems to be in the 2001/2002 US catalog, with the Executive model. This range was referred to a bit confusingly as the “Executive Slimline,” but then offered in the sizes Mini, Pocket, and Slimline. (Slimline had become the name for a Filofax that held personal size sheets of 3.75 x 6.75 inches / 95 x 171mm, but had small rings and no fastener.) Later catalogs just use the name “Executive,” and call this size “pocket,” not “pocket slim,” but since the whole range has small rings and no fastener, they had no need to distinguish particular sizes as “slim.”

The Executive design is somewhat similar to the Grosvenor, with 11mm rings and credit card pockets on the left, but it just has one full-length pocket on the right. It’s a little narrower than the Grosvenor. It came in black (model #022960) and red (model #022962). (In a 2005 catalog for Germany, a blue color was also offered, model #012959.) In the 2001 US catalog, it appears without a pen loop, but in other catalogs through 2006, it has a pen loop on the inside front cover.

I have a red Executive, without the pen loop, purchased a while ago when I started researching this history. Mine, and almost every other example I’ve ever seen of the Executive line in any size, has a serious problem of flaky leather on the inside, whether they’re still new-in-box or well-used. The “deluxe leather” it’s made of is not so deluxe, and seems to just be a thin layer bonded to cloth padding underneath. I’ve had other notebooks made of bonded leather and have never seen anything disintegrate quite as badly as this. Maybe this leather defect was confined to a certain production year, or maybe it took a decade or two for this problem to emerge, but it’s surprising to me that such a problematic product continued to appear in catalogs for 5 years! I would be interested to know if people who bought these new in 2001 saw the leather starting to flake right away. It’s too bad, as it would be a really nice design if they’d made it with better leather.

The next pocket slim model came on the scene in 2004: the Topaz, which was described as having “elegant full grain leather.” The lizard-like texture is stamped on the outside, while the inside is smooth, with cloth lining the pockets. It doesn’t feel like the highest quality leather, but after obviously having been used a lot, mine (bought 2nd hand) is pretty soft and flexible, even though it doesn’t quite lie flat. The Topaz seems to be the first time the Filofax catalogs use the term “pocket slim” to refer to a specific size with small rings and no fastener. The model name stamped inside says “Slim Pocket Topaz,” so I guess they hadn’t settled on their terminology yet! But despite being labeled as “slim”, it goes back to the very slightly wider profile of the Grosvenor. The 2004/2005 global catalog shows the Topaz pocket slim in black (#028340), brown (#028343), navy (#028345 ) and pink (#028347). In the 2005/2006 global catalog, the colors are black, brown, red (#028349), plum (#028344), and graphite (#028346). The design is like the Executive but the pocket on the left with the credit card slots has become a secretarial pocket, while maintaining the full length pocket on the right. Ring size isn’t specified, but they are probably 11mm. The Topaz line continued in the 2007/2008 catalog, but only models with fasteners were listed. I wouldn’t say this is one of my favorites, but there is something kind of pleasing about it and if I cut off the pen loop, I could see myself using it someday. Like if my other 10 favorite Filofaxes all wore out…

2007 brings the most exciting, most elusive, and most disappointing (in some ways) pocket slim Filofax of all: the Guildford Extra Slim, model #024840. This is the only Filofax I know of that states its size as “Pocket Extra Slim.” It is the perfect size, at least for me, because they’ve made it narrower while keeping the same height. Filofax divider tab inserts can’t really be used, as they will stick out. I don’t know why they didn’t sell some top-tabbed dividers to go with the Guildford, as there is plenty of room for them. The only downside to this size is that it works best as a more minimalist notebook– if you like to use a pocket Filofax as an overstuffed organizer and wallet, this might not be the best pick. The Guildford’s pockets are almost the same as the Topaz, except that there are two cut-in credit card slots plus one sewn-on slightly wider credit card pocket on the left, and there’s no pen loop.

I bought a Guildford sometime around 2008-2009, as that was the date on the calendar inside and though I know I ordered it online, I’m sure I didn’t get it on eBay. The “deluxe” leather feels pretty similar to the Executive, but at least so far, mine isn’t flaking, though I’ve seen photos of other Guildfords that have flaked. The Guildford is very soft and floppy, so it lies flat very easily. But the leather doesn’t feel very high quality to me, though it at least isn’t stiff vinyl– I remember being disappointed in the feel of it when it arrived, which is why I remember that I bought it online. (I kept it in its box for a long time but then used it as a daily carry for a while.) If they made the Guildford with the nappa leather of the Grosvenor, or the calf of the Chelsea, or the kid, or even the smooth but sturdier leather of the Lincoln, I’d probably have bought 20 of them to make sure they’d get me through the rest of my days. But alas, the Guildford Extra Slim only seems to have appeared in that 2007 catalog, and a 2013 Filofax Canada catalog, (at least those are the only ones in the Philofaxy archive to feature it) and this model now seems quite rare on the resale market. Too bad. I wish Filofax would make something like it again, as I don’t believe there are any other models with this extra slim profile.

Part 3 of this history will bring us up to the present. Coming soon!

Previous posts in this series:

The History of the Pocket Slim Filofax: Series Introduction

The History of the Pocket Slim Filofax: Part 1