Quo Vadis Habana moleskine

[bluestocking]

In light of the kerfluffle over in the Rhodia moleskine thread, I thought I would pay a visit to the one shop in the anglophone world that was most likely to have such a thing: Nemeta (formerly Bureau) in Covent Garden. Well, they didn't have them. But...they did have Quo Vadis Habana notebooks.

 

Quo Vadis is member of the Clairefontaine group (like Rhodia) and so uses CF paper in its products. They usually make diaries and planners, so I was a bit surprised at the appearance of a plain notebook by Quo Vadis, but it looked like it would do just the trick. There were three colours available: black, orange, and red, along with some other more decorative designs. In terms of format, there are the small size moleskine notebooks which are a bit larger than the small Moleskines, which makes me happy, and also a large size that is larger than the Moleskine large, more the size of the larger cahiers. The paper they are filled with comes in lined and plain -- the rules are quite narrow and I wanted plain or grid anyway so I went with plain, red, small. The price was ten quid, so about the same as a Moleskine.

 

The cover of the notebooks has the usual elastic closure and is hard bound, but with a bit of flex to it (more than the usual moleskine). There is a pocket in the back, and a ribbon bookmarker. The pages are sewn and then glue bound, so it will lay flat although not as easily as the usual moleskine notebook. I expect it will lay flat easily with a bit of breaking in.

 

Now, the important thing, the paper. Is it any good?

 

In the shop, I ran my hands over it, and it had that signature clairefontaine silken feel. It is not the same CF paper in their notebooks: it is ivory instead of white, and quite a bit thinner -- the thickness is akin to the usual Moleskine paper. So basically, the same colour and thickness but very very satiny smooth. I got it home and tried it out with my Lamy 2000 xf filled with regular old black and it is very much a pleasure to write on -- the nib glides across the page and there is no bleeding or feathering to speak of. The only downside is the thinness of the paper: while this is no bleedthrough, you can quite obviously see writing "echoes" on the other side. I'll probably write on the backs of the pages anyway.

 

So, in summary, I think it's a good notebook. I prefer the slightly larger formal to the usual small Moleskine, and the paper is far far better. The only thing I would change is to make it slightly thicker, honestly, but other than that, I recommend this notebook and you should all buy one from the nice folks at Nemeta (although I did suggest that the manager should try ordering some Rhodia moleskines, also, so watch that space, too).

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/2383060592_05dfe7e510.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3119/2382217521_d157dce901.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2266/2382217389_1cd6afd1ff.jpg

Edited April 2, 2008 by bluestocking

[AndyHayes]

Excellent review. I am slightly disappointed that the paper isn't the standard Rhodia/Clairefontaine paper, but if it is better than moleskine it has to be a good thing.

[finalidid]

Thanks!

 

Any hints on the inch (or centimeter) measurements of the pages? Are we talking A5 here? I can't quite gather the specifics from your wonderful and very useful report.

 

Thanks again!

[bluestocking]

The pages are 10 x 15 cm, so nearly A6 size.

 

[Shelley]

is there an address or website etc?

[finalidid]

I'm dyin' for an A5 of one of these ...

[garyc]

I'm dyin' for an A5 of one of these ...

They also do a 16 x 24 cm. I couldn't find them on the Nemata web site, but Quovadis do mail order direct. This page shows the various options (plain, ruled and 5mm graph). The prices are £9.95 and £14.95 for the small and large respectively. They ship worldwide, this is what they say on postage:

 

Shipping And Handling All prices on our site include Second Class UK postage.

Additional postal charges are:

Rep of Ireland and Europe: 1 GBP + VAT (if applicable) per diary

Outside Europe: 1 diary: 4 GBP, 2 diaries: 7 GBP, 3 diaries: 9 GBP and 4 diaries: 12 GBP

For quantities of 5+ diaries outside the UK please contact us for shipping costs. For Airmail this may require more than 1 package to keep within maximum Airmail weights (currently a maximum of 2kg) or we are pleased to quote for shipping by UPS or DHL.

 

Also, they will adjust the VAT (value added tax) according to the shipping country, so for the US it is removed altogether, saving you 17.5% (£2.23 on the large).

Edited April 8, 2008 by garyc

[aka]

I just picked up one of these. It's great! There is the "echo" you mention, but I just wrote on the backs anyway! And it doesn't lie as flat as the moleskines... boo! Other than that, it's a joy to use~