Smythson
Established 1887Founded in 1887 by Frank Smythson, Smythson of Bond Street is a British manufacturer of luxury stationery and leather goods. Smythson has catered to the highly discerning, such as Grace Kelly, Katharine Hepburn, Claudette Colbert, Sigmund Freud and Sir Winston Churchill. Also, the company holds three Royal Warrants.
In 1908, Frank Smythson created the iconic Panama diary, named after the Panama hat because of its remarkable pliability. The Panama diary has a flexible cross grain leather cover and contains pale blue featherweight paper. Specifically designed to fit perfectly inside a gentleman’s breast pocket, the Panama became the world’s first practical, portable diary.
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