Clairefontaine Triomphe A5 Notepad Review

The Clairefontaine Triomphe notepads are one of those products that had a really difficult time getting my attention. They're incredibly well-designed and clean-looking, but that can also work to their detriment, getting passed over by more colorful and novel notebooks and notepads.

I'm glad I finally remembered to get these notepads out and try them out. They deliver everything I already loved about Clairefontaine paper in a handy notepad form. You can buy these notepads in other sizes, but the A5 is just so perfect for my needs. I haven't even tried the larger A4 version.

If you've never used Clairefontaine paper before, do yourself a favor and add some to your next stationery order. It's smooth, delicious paper that handles different types of pens with aplomb. The main downside to Clairefontaine's paper offerings always come down to the line formats they offer: lined and (less commonly) blank. No grid lines in sight with this brand! This is something that can immediately turn someone off of an entire line of paper products, and I don't blame them. I wish that Clairefontaine offered some more variety in their line formats. It's a shame they don't. But, if you can fight through the cringe-y experience of using lined paper, you'll be rewarded with a great writing experience.

I personally like using lined paper sometimes, and Clairefontaine is my go-to when I want to write long form stuff on lines. In the past, I've used various notebooks that they offer, but this was my first time to try out a notepad from the company.

At 50 sheets of 90 gsm acid-free paper, these notebooks are not large, but they're also fairly priced at just $6. The paper handles ink well enough that you can normally use the back side of the page if you want.

In my years of using this paper, I've had very little issues with bleeding and show-through. It really is a great paper and such a shame that it's not more prevalent, again due to the lack of line options.

The binding at the top of the pad is an adhesive layer that easily allows you to tear out a single page with little effort. The pages aren't perforated, so there aren't any tiny teeth at the top of the page after you tear it out. This makes the paper an ideal candidate for letters and clean notes. I'm also really content with how easy and clean these pages tear out. I've never had an issue with the sheet ripping when tearing it out of the adhesive binding.

These notebooks are very simple; they don't have any front or back matter, and the covers are very plain. If you order a lined version, you start at page 1 with normal paper. The blank version of the notepad comes with a removable line guide on page 1 that helps keep your lines straight when needed.

When writing, the front cover folds back onto the back cover easily to give you plenty of space to move the pad around on your work surface. The folding lines on the front cover are pre-folded for additional convenience. Even when these notepads are closed, they look really clean and professional. I love the white softcovers.

At $6, these Triomphe notepads are a really great deal as long as you like either blank or lined paper. They're infinitely useful due to their small form factor, and the paper can handle anything you throw at it. These are some of my favorite under-rated notebooks.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Clairefontaine Triomphe Stationery: A5 Tablet and Envelopes Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I really wish I wrote more letters than I do. A few years ago, I signed up to be pen pals with several other pen addicts. It was actually really fun. I had an Australian, British, and several American pen friends, and we wrote back and forth for almost a year. But then I got overwhelmed at work and extremely depressed, and I just . . . stopped. I’m really sorry that I did.

Regardless, I still write to a few people occasionally. When I do write letters, I prefer using nice stationery, and Clairefontaine is one of the best brands. I’m reviewing the Clairefontaine A5 blank tablet and the small envelopes.

The A5 tablet has 50 sheets of 90g acid-free, pH neutral paper. The first page is lined so you can use it as a guide. The other pages are smooth-as-silk, pure white paper.

The paper is glued to form a tablet, but pages are easy to remove without tearing them.

I tested the paper with several fountain pens, a rollerball, some gel pens, and a Sharpie. All of them wrote beautifully on this paper.

Although some of the broader nibbed pens’ ink showed through slightly, the only bleed through came from the Sharpie. But I doubt most people would use Sharpie pens to write letters on nice stationery.

The only pen that bled through was the Sharpie (the last lines in green).

The Clairefontaine paper is super smooth, so I tested a few inks for dry times. As I suspected, if you use broad nibs and wet inks, the dry time on this paper is significant. The only ink that dried fairly quickly was Iroshizuku Shin-Kai, and it’s drier than my other Iroshizuku inks. In any case, just keep in mind that fountain pen ink will take some time to dry on this paper. Lefties may find this paper difficult to use.

Although I appeciate that Clairefontaine provides one sheet of lined paper as a guide, the lines aren’t dark enough for me. I love SketchyNotebook’s guides. They are dark and provide a smooth surface on which to write.

The Clairefontaine small envelopes (114mm x 162mm) come in a package of 25. They use the same lovely 90g paper, and they have a peel and stick closure. No licking necessary.

The envelopes hold up just as well as the paper, as you would expect.

I used a cool little template I got from JetPens to address the envelope. It’s called the Lettermate Companion Envelope Addressing Guide. It’s really nice to have something to keep the lines straight.

You can buy Clairefontaine stationery from Goulet Pens. The A5 tablet is just $5.00, and the set of 25 envelopes is also $5.00.

If you’re interested in the SketchyNotebook templates, you can find out more here. And you can get the Lettermate Companion Envelope Addressing Guide for $9.95 at JetPens.

And, hey, if you’re interested in being my pen pal, I’m really awful at it, but we can give it a go.

(Goulet Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, which I am very grateful for.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Clairefontaine Basics Staplebound Pocket Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

For a product that has such a long name, the Clairefontaine Basics Life Unplugged Staplebound Notebooks Duo are a pocket-friendly notebook worthy of respect. I've long been a fan of Clairefontaine paper, and this newest addition to my collection is a new favorite. A 3.5" x 5.5" notebook filled with creamy, white Clairefontaine 90gsm paper is hard to beat.

When I picked up these notebooks to try, my goal was to find something in the pocket notebook category that could handle fountain pens with ease. Well, these notebooks hit the mark perfectly. Let's take a look at the specifics and then look at how they perform in real life.

These notebooks share the same measurements as Field Notes, but their about the same thickness as two Field Notes books. This is good and bad: It's good because you have plenty of paper to use, but it's bad because it means you can pack one less notebook in pockets and sleeves that normally accept two notebooks. Not a big drawback, but just be aware that it might require you to change your carry a bit.

The covers are a thick material that have a textured exterior. It's a strong material, and I'm not worried at all about these things falling apart after daily pocket abuse. The front has a subtle Clairefontaine logo embossed in the lower right corner, and the back cover has a SKU and barcode, as well as some info about the book. Apart from that, there are no other markings on this book — just 96 empty lined pages.

The notebooks are assembled with two staples. I have my doubts about the longevity of this binding system, but time will tell. They feel strong, but I know that Field Notes can get a bit weak at the staple areas, and they have one additional staple over the Clairefontaines. Either way, they seem strong enough for normal use.

As I mentioned briefly before, the paper in these notebooks is exactly like the paper you'll find in any Clairefontaine notebook. That's something I love about their notebooks. Once you've tried their paper in one format, you've tried it all. It's predictable, and it's dependable. Now, if you don't like lined paper, you're out of luck because it's all they make.

As for the paper, it's splendid. It handles inks so well, and it's always been a favorite of mine from day one. The lines are spaced at 7mm, which is similar to a "college rule" in the U.S. The lines are a faded light blue color that's easy enough to ignore if you want to draw or think outside the lines. It's 90gsm paper, so it's bound to handle most pens with ease. It isn't sketching paper, so anything else (like markers, watercolors, etc.) will probably be out of bounds. For writing, it's fantastic.

The paper does a very good job of minimizing show-through on the opposite page. The only way I was able to make it show up in the pictures was by putting the notebook between my camera and a bright light source. Under normal conditions, it's nearly impossible to detect any show through unless you're using an extremely wet nib.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with this notebook. It's a familiar size, familiar paper, and excellent price. At less than $7 for a pair, it's quite a good deal considering how much paper is included. It's become a favorite for me when paired with a Fodderstack XL and a favorite pen. This makes a great mobile writing kit.

These notebooks are available from JetPens in a variety of sizes and colors. For this review, I used the 3.5" x 5.5" Red/Green combo, but you can also get them in Black/Tan. Or, if you want something a little larger, there's always the 5.75" x 8.25" versions in the same colors. Those cost a few dollars more (still less than $10) and are an equally excellent deal.

These are currently my favorite "disposable" journaling notebooks. They don't break the bank, but they still feature some stellar paper inside. Now all we need are some more color options!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, which I am very grateful for.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!