Hey all,

So, a few weeks ago I happened to be at a store where they had an incredible supply of Clairefontaine notebooks (the Harvard Coop on Brattle Street, for anyone who's interested). I mean, literally, they had every line imaginable! Naturally, I had to buy three of the graficflow notebooks for the upcoming school year (here's what they look like, they're gorgeous!).

I've done a little bit of searching on here, but I was wondering if we could discuss what inks do and don't work well on Clairefontaine paper - in terms of drying time (which, as a student taking notes, is very important to me), feathering, alteration of the "trueness" of a line (i.e. getting a medium line from a fine nib or vice versa), and any other observations you may have about how ink reacts with the paper.

I'd like to try out my inks on the paper, but I'm scared to mess up the notebook before the year starts!

For reference, these are the inks I own currently:

Aurora Black
Diamine Violet
PR Blue Suede
Noodler's BSB
Noodler's Cape Cod Cranberry

and I've tried samples of other inks that I've liked, such as J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage, which I'm considering getting.

I'm open to suggestions and look forward to hearing your thoughts!

I found the freer flowing inks worked the best on clairefontaine. My beloved noodler's red/black is slightly drier and refused ot sink into the paper . Noodler's eternal brown or fox red worked excellently, the common thread between them being that they are wetter. From this I would infer that noodler's (yeah, I appreciate Nathan's inks) violet vote would also work excellently as it's one of the most free-flowing inks I've used. Any of the free flowing inks I mentioned (eternal brown, fox red, violet vote) generally create a bigger line than something drier such as the red/black but this also depends on the paper and since clairefontaine is so stubborn the line will not get too wide.

Uhh, I've forgotten my point. Get less viscous inks I guess. I don't know anything specific about the inks you've already got.

Waterman Florida Blue or Sheaffer Skrip Blue. These are the most reliable blue inks on the market. They'll work well on the Clairefontaine.

What is it about these inks that makes them work so well? That's sort of what I'm trying to figure out, what will make an ink usable with Clairefontaine or not.

Do not know about the present Slovenian Skrip Blue, but a lot of work went into the original Skrip Blue to make sure that it would write on just about anything available in the early 1900s. I assume the BIC managers kept that same goal in mind when the present Skrip Blue was put together with E.U. dye, surfacant, and biocide. My guess is that Newell Rubbermaid put the same goals to the chemists when they put together the current Waterman Blue.

I have found that when other ink doesn't work in a pen or a particular paper, I can usually go to Skrip or Waterman and it will work. YMMV.

I haven't used a Clairefontaine notebook, but I have used Clairefontaine Triomphe. I'm not sure how similar these papers are.

Drying time will depend on nib width. The finer the nib, the quicker the drying time. With an extra-fine nib, Private Reserve Lake Placid Blue has a fairly quick drying time on Triomphe (approximately 10 secs.).

Swisher brand inks are very fast drying (but some people complain that it has a chemical smell). I get a drying time of approximately 5 secs on Triomphe, when using Swisher North Sea Blue and an extra fine nib.

That's good to hear, since I only use fine or extra-fine nibs (due to my inhumanly small handwriting)

Oh, I forgot to add that your nibs will produce a significantly thinner line on Clairefontaine than on lesser quality paper.

Wow, those notebooks are gorgeous!

I'd recommend sacrificing a page from the back of one of the notebooks and scribble away.

I use Clairefontaine paper quite often but I don't pay much attention to drying time so I can't help you there. The paper is a bright white, but not blueish (at least to my eye) so ink colors show up as 'true'. Since flow and line are as much due to the pen as the paper, I'd try a few combinations and see what most appeals to you. The paper is so smooth, though, that you'll notice when your nibs aren't (smooth, that is). A smooth nib with a beautiful color ink on Clairefontaine is an aesthetic experience all its own.

I've been writing all day in a Clairefontaine notebook with Noodler's Luxury Blue from a Lamy 2000 XF nib, and I actually tried to smudge it at 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 seconds, and barely got any movement at 1 sec.

At least with that ink, I can say that smudging/dry times do not present a problem.

Aren't they? I almost feel bad sacrificing them to things like AP Statistics and other tedious classes... Who knows, maybe my enjoyment of Clairefontaine will make me actually start liking math... hah, not likely



That's really good to know, thanks!