You really hit the nail on the head when you talk about consistency here. The fact that you can use paper, interchangably, between a filofax that's 100 years old and one that is brand new is amazing to me. I thought about this same thing when I changed refill in my Jotter ballpoint earlier today. Parker has a similar consistency, their G2 refills fit perfectly in pens they're producing today, but also in pens they made 50-60 years ago. I love these occurences of consistency in a world where so much, as you say, is designed with planned obsolence in mind.
While the consistency in paper sizes is good, there are still times when I feel like screaming. I bought an A5 notepad (5 actually, because why not?) for work which is top-bound but also has 4 holes for the option to get individual sheets into the ring bound system. And of course when I checked with the A5 Filofax inserts I have recently acquired, it does not match at all. Uniformity in such mundane places would be greatly appreciated by many.
Right from the start, the size of both Filofax and Lefax leaves was specified as 6 3/4” x 3 3/4”. 171mm x 96mm is the modern metric equivalent. You would find that a 100 year old leaf would be a slightly different size to a modern one!
Thanks for your feedback. I always assumed that the metric dimensions were as close as possible to the original US (imperial) dimensions. I think I’ll do some measurements and see just how close it is. I might discuss your comment in a future podcast.
It’s not vital but you were adamant that the standard Filofax leaf has been exactly the same size for more than one hundred years. That’s not quite right! At some stage, the original six and three quarters inches by three and three quarters inches (6.75 x 3.75) became a metric 171mm x 95mm which is 6.73228 inches by 3.74016 inches!
I agree with consistency in ringbinders. Though one crucial size in my eyes is missing: A6. Fortunately my org-verlag Juniors are A6. Compact, flat and easy to produce refills. Yes A6 fits Personal siEd ringbinders, but it seems like a waste.
