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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Holborn Zip personal size Filofax in Wine

I am very excited to review the Holborn Filofax! This is one of their newer line of binders, and it is gorgeous.

The Holborn binders and folders are made from buttery-soft buffalo leather. Many of you have, or have heard of the Malden and know it's extremely popular because if its super-soft buffalo leather. The Holborn is like a more dressed-up version of the Malden.

First of all, many thanks to Filofax for sending me this beautiful binder as a sample to review!  This Filofax is the Holborn Zip, Personal size, Wine color.

The styling of the Holborn is classic, and would be excellent for business or personal use (or a combination of both).  The contrast stitching looks great:
The Filofax logo is subtly embossed on the front cover and, delightfully, on the zip pull tab!
There is a full-length pocket on the exterior front cover:
The front pocket could easily fit my phone if I wanted to carry it there:

The zip-around security means no worries about papers and loose ends falling out:
More of the stitching, very stylish:


The inside of the Holborn has lots of pockets and fun hidey-places!  At first glance it looks ordinary enough, with loads of slots to hold cards:

Just to the left of the cards is a full-length, open pocket:
This can hold receipts, bills, or even a slim notebook such as a pocket Moleskine cahier or a Filofax Flex slim notebook. (I don't have either of these at home to officially experiment unfortunately!)

Here is the inside of the back cover:


In the back cover there is another full-length open pocket that could hold bills, and in there is a full length zip pocket for coins or other items you don't want escaping:

The leather pen loop is elasticated on the back to accommodate a range of pen sizes:
Here is the binder open:

Here is the Holborn Zip in action and fully loaded!

I haven't used a zipped binder since my very first Filofax-like binder, so it feels good to go back to my roots!  And the leather on the Holborn is so smooth and soft, I want to pet and handle it all the time!

Based on information I've seen about the Filofax lineup this year, I have good news and bad news:

The good news is, the Wine color Holborn products will be more widely available starting next month.

The bad news is, the Zipped Holborns are being discontinued!

You can still get zipped Holborns in personal and A5 size at www.PensAndLeather.com, click here to see their Holborn range.  (I am not affiliated with PAN but I have ordered from them before and was very pleased.)

Many thanks again to Filofax!

23 comments:

  1. awesome post I have been wanting to get this one for awhile now and I think you just sold me on it!

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  2. Great to see this one Laurie... very tempting, although I couldn't justify buying one.. They are for sale on the French and German sites still as well.
    Using my Cuban Zip at the moment, love the big 30mm rings..

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  3. I love my personal zipped Holborn in wine, I'm using it at the moment and it's a lovely binder. My only issue is the ring mechanism- when I push the 2 sides of the binder to lay flat against the desk, it pulls the rings open a bit. One ring is open permanently about 1 mm, and another pulls open more as the sides of the binder are pushed down, and then doesn't close up again. I think it's maybe the way the ring mechanism is attached to the leather, but I don't know if it's the same on every example of this binder. I don't think this will be too much of a problem, I'm hoping it won't get worse. I wonder if this was why the Holborn zipped is no longer available on the UK website?

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  4. Laurie, do you see a problem with the ring mechanism? Is the leather easily scratchable, or would it withstand tossing in a bag? And what are the height and width when zipped? This is soooo beautiful!

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  5. Oh no TPS that's horrible about your rings! I know terri had the same problem with her Holborn too, maybe you are right it's why they're discontinued. I know mine was delayed due to some production issue. The rings on mine are fine, luckily, no problems with gapping or opening.

    Mstraat I tried to take photos of my Holborn Zip compared to my personal Finsbury to show any differences but I couldn't get the shots to show properly. The Holborn is only barely taller, and somehow a little narrower than, my personal Finsbury.

    I measure my (fully loaded) Holborn at:

    5 1/4 inches wide

    8 1/8 inches tall

    approx 2 1/4 inches fat!

    I've only been using my Holborn for a couple of days but so far there's been no scratching even in my very full bag. The leather seems like it should be pretty durable.

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  6. Great review! I'm wondering if any of your readers have the slimline Holborn? I am quite tempted, though its ring size is slightly smaller than the compact, so I don't know if it will actually work for me. And now that I'm hearing about two cases of ring issues, I might rethink the possibility to begin with. But I'm still curious about it...

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  7. Yes, I had wonky rings and it's just like you say, Kate - when the binder is flattened, the rings pull apart. However on mine, three of the six rings never did close correctly and were misaligned right out of the box. :-( It's such a beautiful style.

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  8. Nice post. I got myself a Holborn Zip in A5 Wine when I heard they were being discontinued. I couldn't stand not having this beautiful binder.
    Anyways, I've had the same problem as TPS. The rings are open a tiny little bit and the pages getting stuck on them is very annoying. I contacted Filofax France (where I bought it) about it yesterday and hope I'll get a quick answer. I'll keep you posted. (I also just started my own blog, so maybe if anyone wants to hop over there? *smiles*)

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  9. I love all the pocketure! I don't live where I can see these in person so I love reviews like this! Fabulous!

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  10. Wow - that's almost a whole handbag with so many pockets!!! :o)

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  11. I like the multiple pockets. I just voted on Nina's post to choose the Malden, but these pockets are tempting.

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  12. I've been using the Holborn Zip for a week now and I have to say I crazy-love it.

    The leather is so smoooooth and soft! And I love all the pockets.

    I haven't had any problems with the rings. I wonder if the non-zipped Holborns have any ring problems?

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  13. I love the wine Holborn Zip!
    I hope that I will get one in a few weeks - I've ordered the Deco thie week. I can't buy another one yet - what a pity!

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  14. How's your Holborn zip holding up now after a couple of months of use? Are the rings ok?

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  15. HI TPS, my Holborn Zip is still doing great! It goes everywhere with my in my bag and still looks great. I haven't had any problems at all with the rings. I think mine is a second-generation H Zip, because there was a delay getting it to me while they were waiting for stock. From what I understand all the ones available now *should* have the new and improved no-problems rings, but I don't know for certain. Zoe got a Holborn recently and its rings seem to be fine too:

    http://thezeitgeistofzoe.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/has-a-nice-ring-to-it/

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  16. Does anyone know somewhere that would emboss initials on the front (UK)? I've decided to get this for a Christmas present and thought it would be nice to personalise it.

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  17. Hi would the franklin covey inserts fit the zipped holborn better than the snap holborn is it slightly larger?

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    1. I tried my FC pages in the personal Holborn zipped and it is not wider, so the pages go all the way to the edge and touch the zipper. If you don't have it too stuffed it will zip, but the page edges will get bent and especially the tabs. For FC pages you are better off with a snap closure.

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    2. Thanks for getting back to me xx

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  18. And naturally, this has now become impossible to find LOL! XD

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  19. I want one... where can i find one ?!!?!?

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  20. The Holborn Zip is discontinued. Sometimes you can find them on ebay or Philofaxy's Adspot.

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  21. This is my exact unicorn. I can't seem to find one anywhere but I shall keep on searching!

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