They're made from the same manufacturer, have the same purple lines, smooth paper, and excellent for fountain pens, but which brand do you prefer? Why?

I looked into their website and the only difference I got out of it was that Rhodia is 21lb paper, while Clairefontaine paper is 24lb paper.

I don't like the girly colors of Clairefontaine. I prefer the manly orange of Rhodia.

It has somewhat to do with what pen I'm using - if using a relatively toothy pen, Clairefontaine can be a bit more appealing. But in general I prefer Rhodia because it has a little more feedback and I don't feel like my super smooth nibs are skating uncontrollably around the page. Plus, I like the amazing variety of notepad sizes.

Plus I can get them for a relatively cheap price (compared to Clairefontaine) by buying through an art supply place based in TX (where the "economy" shipping takes only a couple of days but still costs very little.)

Rhodia and Clairefontaine belong to the same group, but I don't know if they are manufactured in that same place.

Clairefontaine paper is the smoothest imho. (Even though there are several grade and variants from the notebooks, but that I don't think are available in the U.S.)

HalfSigma : Clairefontaine notebooks also come in very "manly" black covers.

You should have given us a couple more choices (e.g. depends and none). My vote would be for 'depends'. I use Clairefontaine Triomphe pads for letters overseas and Rhodia pads for notes.

Is it just more or does it seem that Ink dries slower on the Rhodia, I love the orange covers and sizes though!

Rhodia is more absorbant (but generally I haven't seen any feathering) so I don't think you're imagining the faster drying. It's part of why I prefer it to Clairefontaine for most things.

Clairefontaine is smoother - but that doesn't say that Rhodia isn't smooth. It is quite so. I don't think of Rhodia as ideal for letters though. I use it now and then just to throw off snail recipients. Otherwise I use it for my own notes and for creative efforts.

Ditto EVERYTHING KCat said

Clairefontaine can be a little TOO smooth and I don't like to feel like I have no control whatsoever

The only thing in Clairefontaine's favor in my experience is sometimes my inks will NOT dry on Rhodia, but the same will dry on C.F. But the fact that I can actually buy Rhodia in a store (Dick Blicks) and there is such a good variety of sizes and styles rockets it to the top for me.

They are pretty close though. It would be a hard choice if they were both in front of me at the same price.

So did I contradict myself enough times?

I like the Clairefontaine paper better than the Rhodia, but the cover of the Rhodia is so cool, and the difference in the paper isn't that great, that I go with Rhodia.... great organge cover.

The vote is 8 to 8 now. I still can't decide which one I like better.

I thought Rhodia came in the same sizes as Clairefontaine? Or maybe the store I am going to have very limited selection.

I didn't vote, because I've only used Rhodia - there are only two stores that are hard to get to for me in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota that sell Clairefontaine products.

I like Rhodia's paper - when turning things in in class, my page is bright white and thick and everyone else has slightly off-white Mead and such with fringes still attached. It gives that extra oomph. All the freshmen in my Japanese class love trying my not too expensive pens.

I want to get some Clairefontaine though. Someday. It's smoother than Rhodia?

I didn't vote either, because I wouldn't be without either one of them. My experience has been the opposite of some folks...The ink seems to dry faster on Rhodia.

I do use both for snails, but the Rhodia seems a little "underweight" . I like the 11" length (when torn from the tablet) of the Rhodia better than the longer Clairefontaine. So, for me it's a toss-up as to which I like best.

Betty, are you thoroughly confused yet?

Where are the best places to buy either one onlnie?

Pendemonium (http://www.pendemonium.com) offers a wide selection of both product lines. Good prices, great service. I've been a happy customer of theirs for some time now.

Bill

Pendemonium is good.

Also look into

Mr. Art (not Art Brown) - it's a Texas-based company so i don't know how long their economy shipping takes to Detroit. But if you are heavy into art supplies and become a member the prices get even better. Still, best prices I've seen thus far on the Rhodia pads.

They don't carry Clairefontaine.

Pendemonium are sweeties.

The Daily Planner has a full selection of rhodia clairefontaine and moleskin. All sizes and styles...

Is Exacompta related to Rhodia or Clairefontaine?

They are all owned by the same company

I believe Exacompta owns both Rhodia and Clairefontaine. Exaclair is the US distributor of Exacompta.

There is another difference beside paper weight. The Rhodia gird lines ar emore precise. Rhodia in part were used more frequently in engineering and graphical design where scale and registration are important

From the Exaclair site:


To me it sounds like a big paper conglomerate started by Clairefontaine.

So is the paper in the Exacompta journals similar to that in the Rhodia and Clairefontaine notepads?

Again from the Exaclair site:

Ahh, thanks. I guess I could've looked it up myself, but you all saved me the trouble. (And I'm working on a big deadline tonight--on a holiday, of all times.)

I wish I would have looked at this post several days ago as I had the same dilemma between Clairefontaine and Rhodia.
I decided to try the Clairefontaine and I ordered from Pendomonium, so I guess I will find out if I like Clairefontaine's.
Maybe I'll order the Rhodia sometime and do my own comparision!

I'm not voting since I've only used Clairefontaine. However, several comments have prompted me to consider adding one or two Rhodia products the next time I order stationary.

At work, we have off the shelf notebooks and pads, the pages of which tend to act like very thin blotters when used with some of my favorite inks.

This NEVER happens with Clairefontaine.

I purchased a Rhodia pad yesterday and did a comparision between the Clairefontaine and Rhodia. The Clairefontaine is indeed smoother to write on, but I like the Rhodia also. What I like about the Rhodia is the bright color of the pad and that it's bound at the top.

Clairefontaines are also available with bound tops. I certainly do love the orange cover though!!! In Japan, I see that they sell leather covers for these Rhodias. It looks beautiful, but US people aren't able to get it

Betty, you are a wealth of information! I didn't know Clairefontaines were available with bound tops. I'm going to have to look for those.

Too bad we can't get the leather bound ones. My husband would love one of those!

When I was in Fahrney's in D.C. several weeks ago, I immediately went to the back of the store where they have all their paper and asked the saleswoman which paper was superior the Clairefontaine or the Rhodia. She unequivocally answered that the Clairefontaine was the paper of choice. So there you have it straight from a saleswoman at Fahrney's.

She is absolutely correct - as long as she's the one doing the writing.

How would she know which one you like better?


Sidney: Either it has always been a conglomerate, or else they have bought out several other paper manufacturers along the way. I don't know which.

Hi David!
When I know little about a subject, one of the first things I do is ask salespeople what they think. After all, they work with the stuff and they see what sells and what does not. I like to get this feedback from the people on the job, just as I would expect the parents of my adorable kids in school to ask me what is going on in the classroom. After all, they KNOW their kids can do no wrong and complete everything on time AND behave like angels every second...but still, sometimes they are curious and ask what is REALLY going on!
I have some Clairefontaine tiny books but have not yet purchased Rhodia. Perhaps I will try some of that too...AFTER I go through my zillion dollars worth of Crane.....anyone have a match?.........

Didn't vote. The only papers I use (apart from Moleskine which I question re bleed) are Elco Classic Velin ( Switzerland) and Verge du France (guess!).
The Elco is my first choice, smooth, deckle edge, never bleeds, decent weight.
Verge du France is lovely paper but a tiny bit textured.

Does Clairefontaine make lined unglued filler paper?

I'm sure they must, at least in A4 size for the European market. I would buy large amounts of that if I could find it.

Me too. I've found notebooks at The Writing Desk (the cost is fairly outrageous to ship to the States) but I haven't found anything unglued yet. I get Triomphe A4 and unpeel it carefully.

Yes they do. I have seen shrink wrapped packets of it at a place called Piedmont Stationers in Oakland, CA. It's crazy expensive - like 9 dollars for 90 or a hundred sheets.

I have also seen loose CF paper in these folio type things but that may be for the old ClaireRing system they don't make any longer. Unfortunately I don't remember where!

$9 for 90 sheets is a better buy than the Triomphe pads, which usually retail for $6 for 50.

Maybe I will try to find them online and see if I can order.

Let us know if you find anything - I am interested as well! Thanks!

They have an online presence but no Clairefontaine in their online catalog, so I emailed them. I will let you all know what I find out!

Rhodia for most things, and Verge du France for some snails and thank you letters.

I have one of Levenger's 3x5 index card wallets, that very neatly holds the smallest Rhodia pad (I tape the back of the pad to two or three 3x5 index cards, and then slip the corners of the cards into the holder). I also use an 8 1/2 x 11 Rhodia pad for meetings, etc.

THat is a great idea! I will try it when I run out of my lifetime supply of LEvenger 3x5s!

I had some of those Levenger 3x5 cards personalised with my name and address, phone, email, etc. About a month after they arrived, I moved.

This has nothing to do with this topic, but in case you find someone speaking French and speak to him about verge du France, I think I should warn you that if you don't want to shock him or make him laugh, the paper you are talking about is probably Vergé de France (Vergé is pronounced verjay and Verge du France doesn't mean anything)
Also Verge (pronounced verj) means 99% of the time, the part that the man possess but woman don't.

More on topic I prefer clairfontaine to rhodia because I like the smoothness of clairfontaine also they have much more types of products than rhodia in the biggest libraries in Paris they have about 4-5x more choice than rhodia.
I really like this useful notepad for students about 2,5 euros for 160 pages :

I just picked up a Rhodia pad and a Clairefontaine notebook. I don't have enough time with each yet to vote on which is better but I have to say WOW! ... This stuff really rocks (they both do). Its so smooth to write on.

Up until now I had been using Ampad Gold Fibre pads which are good but not nearly as smooth. My only complaint with the Ampad pads is that with a medium or fine point (parker medium/fine) I see some of the writing on the other side (Using the 20lb version of the Ampad pads). Maybe with a finer point that would not be as much of an issue.

More later on my experience with both papers when I have a few days to compare.

I've never been this excited about paper in my life... its a strange feeling.

Keldun, would that pad be referred to as french ruled, or graph ruled, or something else? That looks exactly like what I would love for note-taking, as well.

Are pages easily removed from the staple-bound Clairefontaine pads?

Keldun's example is what U.S. vendors call French ruled. The CF and Rhodia graph is just that--like U.S. graph paper although I assume the squares are a slightly different size.

I just got four regular letter-sized Rhodia pads for $3.50 each from my local stationery. I couldn't believe it that they offered them at such a low price. So I bought their whole stock. My local pen store sells them for $8.50 each that son of a ...... fountain pen....

Yes this is specially made for pages to be easily removed, in france we also call this séyès or grands carreaux.