This rather lovely notebook was sent to me to review by Andy... and I'm ashamed to say it was ages ago. But here I am, finally reviewing it. I really didn't want to write in it because I love it. And I only have one. LOOK AT IT. Of course I didn't want to write in it...
ABOUT
Size: 3.5" x 5.5" / 9 cm x 14 cm
Color: White
Ruling: Lined
Sheet Count: 48
Price: $5.595AUD (discounts with purchase of multiples)
Where to buy:
NoteMaker
APPEARANCE
This is the reason I didn't want to use it - because of its appearance. It's adorable and lovely. It's the pink notebook in the Rays design, of the Waves, Rays, and Stripes designs of the Bob Foundation Back to Basics collection. It's a wonderful, vivid pink polypropylene cover. The waves are solid lines with cream in between. The cover has a cream box for a subject or your name, or whatever you wish to put in there. The edges are rounded and flush with the paper inside. The paper is bright white with violet lines. I love this notebook. It's so pretty.
They compare perfectly in size to other pocket notebooks!
PERFORMANCE
The paper is 90gsm brushed vellum paper - it has the smooth satin finish that you can feel - it's glossy smooth and everything just glides across it, whether it's your fingertips or a nib. I didn't even waste time with ballpoints/pencils/gel pens in this. It's all about the fountain pens.
With fountain pens, you can expect longer drying times, because the paper is so glossy, it takes some time for the ink to dry. I don't care. It's entirely worth it, however, this may make it less useful for you as a pocket notebook (unless you use blotting paper).
The paper performs admirably with all fountain pens - from fine to some seriously broad nibs, as well as with flex nibs. It can handle a large amount of ink at once without bleed through, and even show through is minimal. If you haven't used a Clairefontaine notebook before, you should. This is a wonderful experience. There's also no feathering, which is great. You'll notice wonderful shading and gorgeous sheens in your inks. In other words, there's no issues with the paper. It's darned good. Fountain pen friendly? Check.
PROS
- Fountain pen friendly - no feathering or bleed through.
- Shading and sheens are highlighted.
- Very pretty and cute notebook (also available in other colours if you don't fancy the pink).
- Pocket-sized and portable.
- Thick covers are pretty tough.
CONS
- Because of long drying times, not the most useful as a pocket notebook with fountain pens.
- Not inexpensive, but if you buy in multiples, it gets better.
OVERALL
I absolutely love this notebook and I have my eye on picking up a few more. They're not available all over the place though so that makes it a bit difficult to get a hold of them, but they're so nice. If you use Clairefontaine pocket notebooks, consider popping one of these into your rotation.
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3 comments:
I had no idea there were Clairefontaine pocket notebooks. Thanks for enlightening me:)
Gorgeous writing! I've got one of these (Veloute?) notebooks ready to go too: I had to buy it because it was turquoise.
I have the black version of this and the black wavy pattern that i take everywhere. If you bend them to lay flat, they don't really like to stay closed all of the time, but they can withstand a back-pocket beating fairly well! Nice review!
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