(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’ve written a couple of reviews about William Hannah notebooks (see here and here), and it’s clear that I absolutely love them. But, one feature many William Hannah fans have been asking for is some kind of notebook closure. If you keep your notebook in a bag or backpack, the lack of closure means that the pages can get crumpled or snagged.
The solution David Round (the genius behind William Hannah) came up with is elegant and simple: a pen band. The pen band comes in all the regular color combinations of WH notebooks. You can even order a bespoke pen band, if you like. Mine is Agave and Petrol to match my A5 notebook.
The pen case portion of the band is made from the same luxurious leather as the notebooks. It is thick and the suede portion is soft. The stitching is beautiful and strong.
The band portion is made from thick matching elastic. This is not a wimpy band. It fits perfectly around the notebook--it’s not so tight that it mars the top or bottom edges, but it is snug enough that it doesn’t move around and it won’t accidentally fall off.
The pen case accommodates a good variety of pens, as long as you’re willing to let it stretch out a bit for larger pens. My band is still pretty stiff, so I had to work to fit my larger pens in it. The pens that fit well were all medium-sized pens: a Lamy 2000, a Platinum Century 3776, and a Leonardo Furore.
My Montegrappa Mia was a bit of a tight fit, but if I really wanted it to be the “chosen one” for my William Hannah, I could stretch the leather out.
The only pen that didn’t fit well was my Kanilea. I could get the pen in the case, but it stuck out quite a bit at the top.
And that brings me to what I don’t like about the pen band. Regardless of what pen you choose, some or all of the cap is exposed. If the point of the pen band is to keep the notebook closed when you toss it into a larger bag, you are taking chances that the top of your pen will get scratched. I wouldn’t put a delicate pen in the pen band for this reason.
Although I like the Pen Band, it’s not my favorite sort of closure. It requires removing the entire band to use the notebook, and I can see myself accidentally leaving it behind somewhere. Plus, I don’t typically use just one fountain pen, and I already carry a pen case that offers better protection for my pens.
I would much prefer a small leather piece that would attach to the William Hannah button on the front of the notebook.
Unfortunately, this would require a redesign of the entire notebook because the leather piece would need to be sewn into the back cover. The good thing about the pen band is that you don’t have to buy a new notebook in order to use it. Still, I’d prefer the option of a William Hannah notebook with a snap closure or a closure that integrates with the current metal button.
That said, if you haven’t taken a look at William Hannah notebooks, you’re really missing out. They are absolutely exquisite and the paper refill options are so useful (see here for a review of the wonderful Intentions Pages refill). The notebooks come in A5, A6, and pocket size.
You can purchase a pen band for the A5 and A6 notebooks. Both cost £29.00 (about $38 USD).
(I purchased the William Hannah Pen Band with my own funds.)
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