Filofax Ascot A5

I bought this A5 Ascot in black a year or so ago, it was love on the first sight. It is only logical, given my deep love for the Amazonas, and it looks like the Ascot and the Amazonas are really closely related (check a great comparison of them both at Aspire To Be's flickr page).

It's previous owner bought it sometime between 1996 and 1998 and has obviously loved it, too: it was worn from a glossy black to a light grey colour! Of course, even Nivea couldn't do such a trick, so I used a black shoe leather polish first to restore the colour; I was delighted to see that the grey parts have turned black again because it didn't look very promising at the beginning (I wish I had photographed it!).

So here it is in action now:

It is a very comfortable binder: buttery soft and smooth, with thick gloss, but still not much padded - unlike Amazona which tends to be rather bulky.


This is one of my "quiet binders" - always in use, but never really showed off. Until a couple of weeks ago a seller on eBay selling a personal Ascot gave a fabulous description of it. I really enjoyed  it and wanted to share it with you because I think it captures the spirit of the Ascot perfectly:


"Recall an age of elegance, of style, of open top Bentley touring roadsters, of biplanes, of Rolex watches, Art Deco, the Chrysler skyscraper, jazz, the Charleston, of luxury cruises on four-funnel liners, and of gentlemen's leather accessories.
The Filofax Ascot, Personal size, harks back to those days, with its rich, glossy, alligator print textured cover and contrasting smooth leather interior." 


I couldn't agree more!