A couple of people have asked me the differences between the Portland Grand and the Cavendish personal, and also which one I prefer.
I bought my two Cavendishes and Portland Grand before the big boom in prices hit. I probably would not pay the prices they are going for now but they are lovely binders.
For me, the Cavendish is better suited as a wallet + planner combination. It has the outside zip for coins, an inside flap for notes, and a very practical credit card constellation – all horizontal and easy to use. Plus there are lots of slots.
The one downside is that the round spine causes the ruler and pages to get caught between the rings and the cover.
The Cavendish is firmer than the Portland but both are still ‘puffy’. The Portland is puffier and feels a lot like the Eton.
The Portland has a slightly more impractical card slot layout for use as a wallet, but the zipper on the inside left cover is gussetted so you can open it up. It has a square spine so the papers do not get caught. Most binders with big rings have problems with the papers getting caught between rings and the cover but it is definitely less of a problem with the Portland.
None of the three lay flat, hence my complicated weight arrangement to keep them flat for the photographs.
The 30mm rings are all perfect, closing tightly.







I am loving the navy Cavendish. Hope I can find one for a good price!
I owned a navy Cavendish; probably my second favorite binder after my red winchester; but the issue of pages getting jammed in the covers made it not ideal as a daily use planner. I have since discovered page lifters which solve the problem but also use up quite a bit of ring space. Lovely photos. I really love that desk!
Thanks for the comparison Janet. These are the first photos in which the navy Cavendish looks blue instead of black. Lovely!
I was so delighted to find a navy Filofax – you don’t seem them very often!
That is the color I would like to have.