(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)
(Note: Sarah and I discussed the poor quality of this notebook in advance of publication. We review products as provided, and provide our thoughts based on the item in hand. I will be forwarding this review to Soumkine for their input on the issues present here to determine what went wrong and will report back if and when they respond. -Brad) (Update: Scroll down for Soumkine's response.)
Soumkine are a company in Paris, France that make high-end luxury notebooks and agendas. The Italian paper in their regular line of notebooks has reviews that rival Tomoe River paper. So I was very excited to try their new line of sketchbooks.
The sketchbooks are substantial, with 120 pages in this slim size. The pages are bound together in signatures with a thread and glue binding protected by a paper spine a very firm cardstock cover. The cover is pressed with the Pages logo and Soumkine's name. Inside the front cover are the number of the product, a space to index the date and contents of your sketchbook, and a warning that using such fine materials may cause one to become addicted to the finer things in life. Inside the back cover there is more information about Soumkine's other products.
I'm not an artist, myself, so my first instinct when given paper is to write on it. I'm not quite sure that that's what this paper wants, though. While it does well with pencils and drier inks, liquid inks like fountain pen ink had a tendency to feather. Per the product page:
“When you want a place to scribble notable quotes and perfect lines of poetry or to sketch ideas and capture spring blooms with watercolor, you want a paper where the pen doesn’t scratch, the ink doesn’t bleed, and the brush glides effortlessly across the page.”
This paper is more fibrous and stiffer than notebook paper, and it handles media like pencils much better than fine-tip pens, and will handle moderate watercolors.
I suspect that this thicker, stiffer paper may be the cause of the one big issue I had with the notebook--the signatures split easily, breaking the glue at the spine. While this binding technique works very well with their notebooks, their notebook paper is very fine and relaxed, allowing it to lay open flat. This stiff paper will not easily relax or lay flat, and this binding doesn't hold it well at all. The spine cracked between every signature on mine just by opening the book, even without trying to smooth the center to lay flat. When the center is smoothed to lay open flat, the split becomes a fairly significant gap. I've seen this happen in plenty of notebooks before, but the main difference between those notebooks and this one is that this one costs 36 Euros, or roughly $44. There are premium versions of this sketchbook that go up to 170 Euros, or $205 (a steal compared to the $578 limited edition planner). What might be just a bummer in a $5 notebook is a problem in a $44 notebook, and would be a travesty if it happened in the premium model.
It's possible I got a lemon, or one of a bad batch, and maybe the binding glue does its job more effectively on other books--but as it stands, I can't recommend this sketchbook until there are more reviews out there to see where the issue lies.
I genuinely hope my book was an anomaly, and that other versions of this product will prove to be as stellar as they look. If these sketchbooks can hold up to the praises I hear sung of Soumkine's other notebooks, they'd be a great addition to the stationery world.
(Soumkine provided this product to The Pen Addict at no charge for purposes of this review.)
(Update from Fiodor Sumkin, founder of Soumkine:
Dear Brad and Sarah,
Thank you for such a thorough and honest review! We are temporarily putting a "sold out" label on the ‘Pages’ series. There are two main issues: the binding and the paper type.
We sold this sketchbook model 66 times, and we will personally contact each customer to apologise and to offer a free replacement or a refund.
We value each customer, listen to their requests, and it is important for us to admit mistakes while moving forward and constantly improving our products.
Please note that what happened is the result of our brand's growth. I firmly believe that the only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.
I started the paper business 4 years ago in my apartment and my first product was a very simple 32-page notebook. For half a year I was looking for the right type of paper and personally tested them all, choosing the best one I could find.
Our company is no longer a child now, but not an adult yet. It looks more like a teenager in an awkward age. This creates all sorts of problems that my team is bravely dealing with. There are now 14 people at Soumkine.
We’ll send you a new ‘Pages’ sketchbooks shortly, made with a saddle-stitch and a spiral binding that we’re going to launch in the nearest future. These binding types are popular among artists, and I’m now starting to understand why.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to leave an official comment on your review and give our perspective. It means a lot to us as our main priority is to be honest and transparent with our clients and the whole paper-lovers community.
Greetings from Paris, Fiodor Sumkin, founder at Soumkine)
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