Review by Laura Cameron
Oh hey… it’s notebook week! Did I tell you all that yesterday? I don’t know why, but Ana said so!
So to continue with notebook reviews today I’ve got a review of the Clairefontaine Zellige Leatherette Cover A5 Notebook Lined ($12.95) for you. I picked this up when I was in Arkansas for the pen show, but, in truth, I had seen Lisa at Vanness Pen Shop post it a few days before on her Instagram account and knew I wanted to touch one.
The Zellige Leatherette Cover Notebook comes in two sizes – A5 and A6. I picked up the A5 because it’s my favorite size.
According to the flavor text, Zellige means polished stones, but when I gave it a quick Google, I learned that Zellige is a style of mosaic where tiny polished tiles make up geometric patterns. Zellige is a style that is found in a variety of places but is iconic in Morocco, which happens to be where this notebook is made. When I look at the embossed faux leather cover, I definitely see mosaics and geometric patterns.
Let’s talk about the specs. The Zellige notebook has 72 pages of 90gsm ivory colored pages. The pages are lined in approximately 1/4″ ruling. The only thing I find a little odd is that the lines go all the way up to the top, with no room for a header.
To round out the specs, the spine is glued, and the inner covers of mine are burgundy colored. Finally, the journal comes in three colors: taupe (mine), beige and orange.
Clairefontaine has a reputation for having lovely paper, and this journal is no exception. The pages are smooth and creamy and I had no trouble with fountain pens, fine liners or gel pens. Of course the Sharpie bled through, but that’s no surprise.
As you can see, I’m not much of an artist (give me needles and yarn and we’ll talk!), but this book is a win for me. Now I only need to decide what purpose to dedicate it to!
DISCLAIMER: The notebook in this review was provided to us free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
What’s the binding? It looks like smythe-sewn, is that true? They abandoned sewn bindings a while ago but maybe have gone back: ? That would be great.
No luck – the one is glue bound, but seems quite sturdy!
Then count me out–their glue-bound notebooks don’t hold up to real use. Too bad!