21 April 2014

No more A5 Maldens for me

I was using my new ochre A5 Malden the other week and noticed that some of the stitching was starting to come undone. Sadly as time went on it just seemed to be getting worse, so I returned it for a refund. However, I was quite interested to find that I actually felt more relieved than disappointed once it was gone! I suppose that I assumed that I would adore the A5 and want to rush out and find another one. It's a bit weird really as I love Maldens and the ochre leather is yummy, but I don't know as something wasn't quite right...

I still haven't gotten round to selling my A5 Mulberry or Amazona, so maybe I felt it would make more sense to use what I already had, rather than having something else new? I have moved the Malden's contents back into the Mulberry and will definitely find a new home for the Amazona.

On consideration, maybe I haven't been feeling the A5 Malden love as much as I thought because I'm so content with my personal size one?


I'm going to hang onto my Mulberry for the time being for when I want more space and for planning projects, but I think I'll set a time to review how it's going.

Have you finally got your hands on a binder you'd assume you would adore, but just didn't bond with it?

10 comments:

  1. Felt this way when I finally got my hands on a personal Baroque. For a long time I lusted over photos of them online. Contacted several owners asking them if they would be willing to part with theirs. Went as far as contacting Filofax retailers worldwide and finally got one shipped to me all the way from Switzerland (I'm from the US), paid a whopper for the Filofax itself plus the international shipping only to realize, as beautiful as the Baroque is, it just wasn't as great as I thought it would be.

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    1. Why? I have loved them from afar but ultimately decided too pricey and ...I wondered if the clasp would become unbearable...was it the clasp (though it looks so spiffy in photos!)?

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    2. Was that because of the clasp? It photographs so well but I wondered if it might be a bit in the way for actual use...Still think they are beautiful...

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  2. I felt this way about the personal size Malden I bought about a year and a half ago. I had seen Maldens when they first came out several years ago, when they were buttery soft, squishy and floppy. When I got mine I was enormously disappointed with the dry, crinkly leather. Despite multiple cream treatments it never got better. Also it was so stiff it closed on its own, and when I tried to get it to lie flat it made a horrible crunching noise. For awhile I thought it was some kind of stiffener in between the leather layers, but in the end I decided it was probably the leather itself, because the leather piece at the spine was very hard and crunchy. I never got over the fact that the Malden was not buttery soft like I expected, and finally sold it. No more Maldens for me.

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  3. I'm feeling like this in general about Filofaxes. I own one A5 vintage pink Malden (very crinkly), one red personal and two mini Maldens of which I adore the mini in grey the most. Why that? Of course for the quality of the binder especially the leather quality that counts as high as a proper ring mechanism. And here is my mourning point: neither of them have increased over the last decade. How I adore older Filofaxes where the quality and craftsman ship were key. Seems to be like a lost island theese days.

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  4. I had a croc print Winchester that, despite its vintage charm and virtue, was just not for me on account of the imprinted texture.

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  5. I adore my Maldens, but long for bigger rings now. xx

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  6. I have a Personal Malden, brand new, that looks hideous. :( Someone told me to contact Filofax about it to see if I could maybe have it exchanged or something, but since it's an Aqua I doubt it's possible. It's totally heartbreaking, but.. I still love the Ochre and Crimson.

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  7. My crimson Personal Malden. If it looked as red as yours or Steve's in the pictures above, I'd be in love. Unfortunately, mine is more brown than red. So even though I paid full price and international shipping, it sits in a box. Such a disappointment!

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  8. I love my Regency and Hoborns, but thought I'd give 30mm a crack... but I could never strike up a meaningful conversation with Maldens. After 6 months of trying - I sold them. Just not my cup of tea

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