Hi everyone,

I'm currently shopping for my girlfriend and am seeking a journal for her to use. I'd like it to be more antique than modern, good-quality paper (of course) and of the type that when people see it, they think 'classy'.

Now I'm about as classy as week-old roadkill so you see my problem. Where might I find such a wondrous journal?

A nice to have option would be refillable of course.

If anyone can help, I would surely appreciate it.

Thanks,
ScottT

Both Border's and Barnes & Noble Carry nice quality leather journal covers with refillable inserts.

Not fabulous, but nice.

William

I ended up buying three of these, in different colours, red tan & black. All are lovely, and probably have the 'feel' you want, with the marbled page edges.

Roma Lussa Leather Journal

UK source is shown but the labels show "Made in Italy for Cavellini & Co, San Francisco" so there must be a US source too if you Google wisely!

Andy

It's worth spending the extra to get a girlfriend you really like. Too many people compromise on that, and it rarely ends well.



Sorry.

PaperBlanks make some nice vintage look notebooks, and Ciak are supposed to be very nice, with real leather covers. I've no idea what either of these are like for fountain pens (I've never actually seen a Ciak, bought a PaperBlanks diary for my wife, but it's not been tested yet), but I'm sure other people can fill in on that (assuming that's important to her).

These look antique. I'll have to buy one when I finish my current one.

Some may like leather strip ties, but I think it's more rustic than classy.

-Hana

Leather strip-tease?



What?

Oh.

Sorry.

:doh:

I would highly recommend taking a look at Renaissance Art. I have one of their Moleskine covers and a thrilled at the quality and craftsmanship for the price. It is absolutely lovely. And their woven ties certainly do not look "rustic."

Watch out, the Paperblanks I tested (about 2 or 3) HATE fountain pens. The backside of the paper in these notebooks makes ink feather beyond moleskine-measure Gel pens work fine btw.

Ciaks have nice paper (even for FPs) and the (faux) leather cover is all soft and nice to touch, but the book won't stay open or lay flat on its own. On the other hand the elastic closure will definitely not let it fall open on its own. My boyfriend got me one as a present and I liked it very much
I'd say it depends on where your girlfriend writes in her journal most of the time. If shes one to carry her journal everywhere, the Ciak may be perfect. If she writes at her desk mostly, it may bother her to have to hold the journal open all the time.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the help!

Lots of choices, and I appreciate all the input.

As this is going to be an everyday, use it for everything including lists type journal, I may give the Epica journals a pass, though I wouldn't mind one for me!

Again, thanks to everyone for the help.

-ScottT

Hmmm. I like the look of those.

- Mark

My recommendations (all tested with my Platinum music pen and Aurora ink, the nib is quite broad):
(1) Epica journal with handcut paper. The one with the so called Amalfi paper would not work with fountain pen (I have tested a sample sent by Epica).
(2) Aspinal of London, just bought one with full leather. One side of the paper is quite smooth, the other is with some tooth which forces one to write slowly. One thing bothers me is that the paper is a little see-through.
(3) La Scuderia del Duca ( http://www.carta-amalfi.it/catalogo.asp?cat=8&parent=0). Genuine white Amalfi paper.

The paper in all these journals is fountain-pen friendly, no bleeding-through, no feathering.

Simon

Thanks for the input, simonsong.

I like your number 3 choice! Very tasteful.

-ScottT

I bought a Roma Lussa journal and absolutely love it. I like to take my journal out and about so the leather wrap stops any papers bending in my handbag. I think the design and marbling is classy and timeless. I will buy another when this is full.
Badge

To me there has to be balance between the price and the quality - I'd love to spend $70 on a journal and get something gorgeous, but then it would make me afraid to spoil it with my sometimes inane ideas.

Moleskines are nice, but don't work with all of my pens. I also want a leather cover.

I've settled on the Gallery leather/Paperchase Journals found at Borders. The large size is $24.95 for 192 pages. Gold gilded edges, ivory paper, lined nicely. They are just right for me. At that price I don't mind wasting a page writing something stupid

I bought a beautiful PaperBlanks diary but found the ink sat wet on the paper, I didn't like it so gave it away. Don't they advertise as being fp friendly?

I know this is an old thread, but I was given a beautiful Paperblanks journal for Christmas. My delight turned to horror when I began to write in it-----even with my finest, driest writer it felt (and looked!) as though I were writing on blotting paper
Before looking on here for Paperblank references, I rang their customer services. The gentleman I spoke to suggested that they had had no complaints about their journals' incompatibility with fountain pens, so perhaps I just had a bad one. He is going to post me a replacement plus another one just in case the first replacement has the same problem. I am, of course, pleased with the response, but from what others have said on here, not optimistic!

Surely, with such an attractive product, the company would ensure that the paper would be suitable for fountain pen users? ---- or don't they know we're out here?
Incidentally, I pointed out FPN to him as evidence that I'm not a lonely, insignificant customer.

I'll keep you all posted on this one.

Angela

Please do... I bought an antique looking Paperblank journal about two months ago.
It is stuck in a drawer, because I too had the same problem... no matter what fountain pen I used it was like blotting paper.

Good luck

I have a coptic bound Paperblanks journal. I am not crazy about the paper. It is smooth & there is no bleed through & no feathering, or at least hardly any. What I don't like is that the ink sort of soaks in to the paper & doesn't look nice like it does on other papers. <_<

edit for type-o

I strongly suggest Peperblanks. I've tried them with M, F, and XF nibs using Lamy, Parker, and Sheaffer ink and the paper takes it very well.

is there a website or something for paperblanks? <_< <_< sounds really really nasty.

I second that, very nice.

these look quite nice for the money

Rustic Leather Journal with Handmade Paper

Slush, the website address is:

www.paperblanks.com

ohhhh, now i realize!! i saw those at Borders the other day, and I was wondering how well they took ink. Now I know.... thanks for the link.

They are kinda nice looking. But that's useless unless they take ink well.... grrrrr <_< <_<

Its such a pity with paperblanks. Two years ago, when they had only a dozen different journals (at least on the european market), they had the fountain pen friendliest paper in the world! But then they made more and more journals and designs and suddenly the paper is like blotting paper. Kinda like what some say happened with Moleskines...

I got a couple of Paperblanks journals over Christmas.

For fit and finish, I love them. They are the big ones with magnetic closure and carry signatures of Shakespeare and Van Gogh.

The paper, though...

It's weird, one side of the page behaves pretty well, the other side feathers a bit. I've narrowed it down to an XF point with Noodlers Black, and it works out okay, but the second side of the page gives a much broader line.

With other inks from a broader (F) nib - Diamine Orange, Herbin Eclat de Saphir - there is proper visible feathering and a big fat line. I'll continue to experiment with inks and nibs and see how I go, because I really like these books.

However, even with the ink/nib combinations that are giving huge lines, absolutely no bleed-through whatsoever!

I still haven't found anything that behaves as well across the board as Clairefontaine. I bought one of their nice leatherbound books, but I'm not sure how much use it'll get as 1) it's plain paper and for some weird reason I have suddenly converted to lined after years of despising lines! and 2) it just won't lie flat to write in. So meanwhile I found a local stationer selling various of the Cf Matris books (A4 stapled, A4 and A5 cloth-spined) really cheaply, so I bought them all - 12 notebooks sitting on my shelf, waiting to be broken into...

I've been happy with that journal that I posted about in this thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=22861

They're not the world's most antique-looking journals, but for $13-14 for 376 pages and quality leather, plus nice heavy fp-friendly paper, I'm happy.

I'm not sure if they've still got 'em, but if they do, they're probably a bit cheaper now. JohnS-MI, can you weigh in here? Have you seen the price lately? If it drops anymore, I'll pick up the rest of 'em and sell 'em all to you guys at an obnoxious profit!

sax and violins anyone?



never mind...

dang.

i bought two paperblank journals at the Met this weekend because I liked the way they looked. i hope the paper behaves for me--but then again I don't have Moleskine issues either.

I wonder how they'll do with my VP Fine Nib or my Hero 329. Both are nice writers without being gushers.

I would second "Renaissance Art" suggestion.

I am not sure how much you want to spend or how long you can wait for your antique journal or of what you envision when you say Antique Journal but here is a link to pic of a ca.1800's book that was recycled into a blank book becuase it could not be repaired.

Is that the type of thing you are envisioning when you say Antique Journal? I make these on a very limited basis because they are time intensive, a labor of love and one of a kind.

http://www.renaissance-art.com/images/prod...s/antique_4.jpg

You could also go to this link and click on the pic to see other examples.
http://www.renaissance-art.com/Prod30/Product.aspx

Hm, my idea of an interesting "antique" would probably be a stamped, leather-bound hardback, maybe with pewter corners or other embellishments.

My idea of "unique" would be the recycled book. Imagine the thoughts of others when they would see it! And, it would truly be one of a kind.

However, when I went shopping for quality journals, I went with the ideas of leather cover, old world, simple and without modern-type closures or binding. I was thinking older looking than antique, I was thinking more medieval. If one wrote in journals back then, I'd imagine either leather or oilskin covers, depending upon the station of the owner. Then I decided, heck with that, just about everyone had access to leather by some means or another (thus my self justification for wanting leather, lol). Since not that many in that time were educated enough to write, I figured the journal would have been a traveler, connected to someone "worldly." I also wanted a product that would stand up and have nice pages. I wasn't looking for FP friendly at the time, but I'm glad that is what I found. The "rustic" leather journals at Renaissance Art fit the bill for me. All handmade. Hand-torn pages and signatures sewn by hand into simple hand-cut and hand-stitched leather covers, with tie or strap closures. I figured ties were more widely used in medieval times, so I went with ties for my journals. Doesn't keep me from lusting after the Medieval Journal they offer, though. I do like that "hinged" look.

What I don't like about the paperblanks, is that they look so commercial. The same follows true for the leather journals I'd find in places like Barnes & Nobles. They didn't have any "character" to them, they seemed flimsy and their ties looked cheap and weak, and they are mass produced. I didn't want zippered books, nor hard-bound books. Heh, guess I really limited myself, but I did find pretty much what I was looking for eventually.