The Pen Addict Raffle for St. Jude is full steam ahead at this point, with new additions from Kanilea Pen Co., Plotter, Blank Slate Paper Co., and more. Check out the current goods here, and learn how you can help support Relay FM’s fundraising for St. Jude and Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
The Pen Addict Raffle closes Monday night, so don’t delay!
(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!)
This lovely Voyageur notebook from Mr. Rouge was handmade with pride in Mexico. It has a soft, textured leather cover with no branding, which combines a minimal look with the rustic elegance of natural materials. It looks like the kind of book you'd find on the shelves of a secret castle library, which fits the brand philosophy--that this is the notebook for travelers, writers, and dreamers. I fancy myself all those things, so it's no wonder I like this notebook.
The leather cover is glued to a thicker endpaper, and then 180 sheets of dot-grid paper are sewn into the binding, a hearty serving of pages for those with lots to write. The notebook lays open flat even without any training. At the end of the notebook, there's a page for your personal information, and a glued-in paper folder.
The book feels great in the hand. It makes you want to write, which is, in my opinion, the best quality a notebook can have. I take big notebooks like this as a personal challenge, and I want to fill them with words.
The leather cover retains a lot of its natural texture, with the rough, unfinished side along the inside edge. It has that good leather smell, too.
The downside of this notebook will be, for some, the paper. It has a nice crispness and feels good to write on, but it doesn't handle fountain pens very well. A fine nib with a light ink does okay, but anything wetter tends to bleed through. A spot where I accidentally dripped ink bled through four pages. Pencil felt amazing on the crisp paper, and ballpoint and gel pens worked very well. This notebook seems to crave a wood-case pencil, though. It's the perfect paper for it, and the smell of the leather with the woodsy smell of the pencil made me feel like I was cosplaying as some romantic poet writing her heart out deep in the forest. I dig it.
Mr. Rouge offers a variety of notebooks, which are available in the US via Amarillo Stationery. The Voyageur is available blank, lined, or dot-grid and in black, light brown, or dark brown, and sells for $26. That's a fantastic price for such a large, well-made notebook. It may not be the top choice for those who exclusively use fountain pens, but for the times I want to write with my beloved gel pens and pencils, this is the perfect notebook.
(This notebook was purchased from Amarillo Stationery at retail price for the purposes of this review.)
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(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)
We're no stranger to Laban pens around here, and I have yet to be disappointed by one. Sure, they don't quite compete with the likes of Sailor, Pilot, and Platinum, but they're a solid fountain pen manufacturer with a unique style and excellent quality.
The Laban Rosa fountain pen is an acrylic resin pen that takes inspiration from the neoclassical style when it comes to the trim, but uses a fairly standard pen shape that fits great in the hand.
The part that stands out to my eye is the collar at the mouth of the cap. It reminds me of Roman or Greek designs from art history, but also fits right in with the overall aesthetic of the pen. The warm gold finish isn't my first pick against the sky blue acrylic, but it still manages to look fantastic. I'd be interested in seeing a variant of the sky blue Rosa with fatigued nickel finish, but that's not likely to happen. As is, the cap band looks fantastic and feels great in the hand. It feels like a solid piece that's been engraved versus a few cheap parts glued together.
Moving up the cap to the clip, it uses the same gold finish to cover a stout clip with simple angular features. It's a perfect fit for the rest of the pen, and it functions perfectly. This pen won't go anywhere when you've secured it with the clip.
The finials of the pen are a cone shape with a soft tip. This gives the ends a distinct look without scratching or poking your hands or getting caught on fabric. I like the sharp cone aesthetic paired with the rest of the pen — adds just a little more interest to the pen.
The grip section of this pen is the same acrylic material as the rest of the pen. It's a smooth finish and feels warm in the hand after handling the pen for a few seconds. Even though it's smooth, it has plenty of grip when writing. Similar to every other acrylic resin pen I've used in the past!
The German Bock is a two-tone finish with the same Laban scrollwork that they use on their other nibs. The size of the nib is perfect for the rest of the pen body.
The nib looks good, but how does it perform? So far, so good! It had a small flow issue at first, but moving the tines a tad fixed the issue in a few seconds. The nib is smooth and easy-flowing — exactly what you want from a fine German nib.
Along with the pen, Laban includes a simple cartridge converter — perfect for filling up with your ink of choice to match the sky blue material. It also fits international cartridges if you want to go that route. And, as an added bonus, there's a small bookmark included in the pen box.
The Laban Rosa is available from Vanness for $140 with a choice of EF, F, M, or B nib size. If the sky blue material isn't your thing, there are several (eight!) other fantastic materials available. For the price, I think the Rosa is a good value. This is a hot price range, so there's no shortage of excellent options out there. Still, it's great to see another acrylic resin pen that uses gorgeous materials to create a handsome writing instrument that also writes really well. This kind of pen makes an excellent gift for something looking for a stylish and unique fountain pen, or even a splurge for yourself!
(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.
Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!
