Clairefontaine Neo Deco A5 Notebook Review

(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!)

I think I changed my mind five times about what notebook I would use for my class lecture notes this semester. It's an important decision! If you're reading this, I know you get it. I finally landed on these Clairefontaine Neo Deco A5 notebooks. Whether I made a definitive decision, or if school started before I could change my mind again, will remain a mystery. But I've been writing in these daily for a week now, and they're working quite well for the purpose.

These are A5 sized books with a matte-coated cardstock cover that comes in a variety of gorgeous Art Deco patterns. There are pastels and jewel tones, all with a touch of gold foil shimmer to them. The geometric patterns are particularly stunning. The cover is sewn all along the spine, which gives the pages a secure join. The cardstock is firm enough and the binding thorough enough that the notebook feels a lot more substantial than many softcover notebooks do.

Between the covers are 48 sheets, or 96 pages of 90gsm ivory lined paper. It is very smooth, with almost no tooth to it, but the thickness of the paper creates a slightly cushioned writing experience. Clairefontaine paper has always been a favorite for fountain pen users because of its liquid-ink-friendly properties, and this thicker sheet is even better than the more basic cahiers. Even the broadest, inkiest writing is invisible through the page. Sharpie shows through, but doesn't actually fully bleed through. The paper shows fun ink properties very well, with both shading and sheening standing out.

I do have one criticism of the paper, and that is dry time. Any paper this impervious to bleeding will have a long dry time, but for this paper, you either need to walk away from your page for a while before turning it, or invest in some blotting paper. Even when taking slow notes, I ended up with some ink splotch transfers across pages.

The lines on these pages are also quite widely spaced at 8mm. It's great if you have large handwriting, and sometimes my notes are more legible if I write bigger, but I prefer narrower lines. Better yet, I'd prefer grid patterns. Unfortunately, I can only find these available in wide-lined versions.

Clairefontaine has some of the best paper for the best value in their simple cahiers, and while these cost a bit more than those, they're still a great deal at $8.50. They're nice enough and priced reasonably enough to snag a few of your favorite patterns. I've already stocked up to use them again next semester. If I don't change my mind again.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Clairefontaine Triomphe A5 Notepad Review

The Clairefontaine Triomphe notepads are one of those products that had a really difficult time getting my attention. They're incredibly well-designed and clean-looking, but that can also work to their detriment, getting passed over by more colorful and novel notebooks and notepads.

I'm glad I finally remembered to get these notepads out and try them out. They deliver everything I already loved about Clairefontaine paper in a handy notepad form. You can buy these notepads in other sizes, but the A5 is just so perfect for my needs. I haven't even tried the larger A4 version.

If you've never used Clairefontaine paper before, do yourself a favor and add some to your next stationery order. It's smooth, delicious paper that handles different types of pens with aplomb. The main downside to Clairefontaine's paper offerings always come down to the line formats they offer: lined and (less commonly) blank. No grid lines in sight with this brand! This is something that can immediately turn someone off of an entire line of paper products, and I don't blame them. I wish that Clairefontaine offered some more variety in their line formats. It's a shame they don't. But, if you can fight through the cringe-y experience of using lined paper, you'll be rewarded with a great writing experience.

I personally like using lined paper sometimes, and Clairefontaine is my go-to when I want to write long form stuff on lines. In the past, I've used various notebooks that they offer, but this was my first time to try out a notepad from the company.

At 50 sheets of 90 gsm acid-free paper, these notebooks are not large, but they're also fairly priced at just $6. The paper handles ink well enough that you can normally use the back side of the page if you want.

In my years of using this paper, I've had very little issues with bleeding and show-through. It really is a great paper and such a shame that it's not more prevalent, again due to the lack of line options.

The binding at the top of the pad is an adhesive layer that easily allows you to tear out a single page with little effort. The pages aren't perforated, so there aren't any tiny teeth at the top of the page after you tear it out. This makes the paper an ideal candidate for letters and clean notes. I'm also really content with how easy and clean these pages tear out. I've never had an issue with the sheet ripping when tearing it out of the adhesive binding.

These notebooks are very simple; they don't have any front or back matter, and the covers are very plain. If you order a lined version, you start at page 1 with normal paper. The blank version of the notepad comes with a removable line guide on page 1 that helps keep your lines straight when needed.

When writing, the front cover folds back onto the back cover easily to give you plenty of space to move the pad around on your work surface. The folding lines on the front cover are pre-folded for additional convenience. Even when these notepads are closed, they look really clean and professional. I love the white softcovers.

At $6, these Triomphe notepads are a really great deal as long as you like either blank or lined paper. They're infinitely useful due to their small form factor, and the paper can handle anything you throw at it. These are some of my favorite under-rated notebooks.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Clairefontaine Triomphe Stationery: A5 Tablet and Envelopes Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I really wish I wrote more letters than I do. A few years ago, I signed up to be pen pals with several other pen addicts. It was actually really fun. I had an Australian, British, and several American pen friends, and we wrote back and forth for almost a year. But then I got overwhelmed at work and extremely depressed, and I just . . . stopped. I’m really sorry that I did.

Regardless, I still write to a few people occasionally. When I do write letters, I prefer using nice stationery, and Clairefontaine is one of the best brands. I’m reviewing the Clairefontaine A5 blank tablet and the small envelopes.

The A5 tablet has 50 sheets of 90g acid-free, pH neutral paper. The first page is lined so you can use it as a guide. The other pages are smooth-as-silk, pure white paper.

The paper is glued to form a tablet, but pages are easy to remove without tearing them.

I tested the paper with several fountain pens, a rollerball, some gel pens, and a Sharpie. All of them wrote beautifully on this paper.

Although some of the broader nibbed pens’ ink showed through slightly, the only bleed through came from the Sharpie. But I doubt most people would use Sharpie pens to write letters on nice stationery.

The only pen that bled through was the Sharpie (the last lines in green).

The Clairefontaine paper is super smooth, so I tested a few inks for dry times. As I suspected, if you use broad nibs and wet inks, the dry time on this paper is significant. The only ink that dried fairly quickly was Iroshizuku Shin-Kai, and it’s drier than my other Iroshizuku inks. In any case, just keep in mind that fountain pen ink will take some time to dry on this paper. Lefties may find this paper difficult to use.

Although I appeciate that Clairefontaine provides one sheet of lined paper as a guide, the lines aren’t dark enough for me. I love SketchyNotebook’s guides. They are dark and provide a smooth surface on which to write.

The Clairefontaine small envelopes (114mm x 162mm) come in a package of 25. They use the same lovely 90g paper, and they have a peel and stick closure. No licking necessary.

The envelopes hold up just as well as the paper, as you would expect.

I used a cool little template I got from JetPens to address the envelope. It’s called the Lettermate Companion Envelope Addressing Guide. It’s really nice to have something to keep the lines straight.

You can buy Clairefontaine stationery from Goulet Pens. The A5 tablet is just $5.00, and the set of 25 envelopes is also $5.00.

If you’re interested in the SketchyNotebook templates, you can find out more here. And you can get the Lettermate Companion Envelope Addressing Guide for $9.95 at JetPens.

And, hey, if you’re interested in being my pen pal, I’m really awful at it, but we can give it a go.

(Goulet Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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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, which I am very grateful for.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!