Archive for January, 2010

Where the paper comes from

Posted January 29, 2010 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 3 comments »

Quo Vadis uses Clairefontaine paper for most of our agendas. (The recycled paper used in the Equology line comes from another French company.) Clairefontaine is famous for its exceptionally white and ultra smooth paper.  It is the best paper in the world for writing.

The paper used for Quo Vadis planners is made at the main Clairefontaine mill  located in the Vosges region of France. It is situated 90 km from Strasbourg in the Meurthe river valley. Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of Alsace in north-eastern France.

In 1858, Jean-Baptiste Bichelberger chose the small town of Etival-Clairefontaine in the Vosges mountains to set up his paper mill.  It is in the heart of a region with a long-standing tradition of paper-making. Clairefontaine was established on the site of a paper mill built in 1512.

Taking advantage of the rags supplied by the local textile industry, Clairefontaine quickly became one of the most important mills in the area. The mill has been making paper since 1858 and stationery products since 1890.

Clairefontaine paper is shipped in rolls from the mill to the Quo Vadis manufacturing plant in Hamburg, NY.  The paper is different colors and weights for the different books: most are bright white, but some are ivory and others tinted a very light mint green. The planners made at the Hamburg plant are destined for the U.S, Canada, Australia and the U.K.

Read about Clairefontaine’s environmental commitment here.

Learn more about the different Clairefontaine mills here.

Who is Claire Fontaine?

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Some notes with that planner?

Posted January 28, 2010 by
in Editorial, Planning Tips | 12 comments »

thoughts

A reader from Michigan wrote in with a good suggestion for improving the next generation of planners:

Very simply, add more “Notes” pages … each planner, regardless of size, should have at least 10 pages … There is a lot of information that I want in my planner but it is not tied to a specific day, week or month and is best kept in one consolidated place in the Notes pages.

What do you think? Do you want more space for notes at the front or back of your planner? Or a separate supplement with blank pages you could tuck in the cover each year?

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User review: Tom Hall on the Habana

Posted January 26, 2010 by
in Pens, Paper & People, Product Reviews | 2 comments »

Tom Hall is an IT lawyer, fountain pen aficionado, author, and frequent guest blogger round these parts. Here are his thoughts on the Habana — and a page from his newest work-in-progress…

Some days we are lucky, and the mail carrier does not leave behind any bills. Other days we are VERY lucky and he or she leaves behind a fat envelope containing a sample from Karen at Exaclair.

A few weeks ago one of those envelopes arrived, holding a Habana notebook. I’ve been a bit slow to write about it. It is almost too nice to use, leaving me with a puzzle: What should I write in it? Daily notes? Class notes? To Do lists? Article drafts? Sketches for never-to-be woodworking projects? Probably not. All these are ephemeral, or, at least disposable. 80 sheets of 90 gram Clairefontaine paper is simply too good for “Take out the trash,” “Fix the kitchen sink,” and “The Grate Great aMAmerican Novl Novel”. Such transitory and inconsequential expressions do not belong in a notebook so well made that it, and its contents, may be around long after I’ve shuffled off my mortal coil. Besides, do I want the great-grandkids to know that I did manage to fix the sink?

Then I had an AHA! Moment. It would be a tremendous lab notebook. It is durable. At 6”x9” and 80 sheets, it offers plenty of room to write. More, the pages handle fountain pen ink and even heavy pencil with aplomb. This image shows a few lines written with J. Herbin ink and my big Parker, Duofold, which lays down ink like a paint brush. Provided I did my part, the Habana would provide me with a permanent record, a record for the ages. I pictured myself handing it to my patent attorney, to document my claims to my world-shaking discovery, clutching it as I accepted, with suitable humility, my Nobel Prize. I imagined my descendants, many generations removed from now, gazing at it in admiration, in its place of honor beside the Declaration of Independence. But then Reality intruded, reminding me that I haven’t had a science course since high school, where I shared a lab bench with Francis Bacon. My last experiment (an attempt to brew a new ink) produced only bad smells and that I can hardly change a light bulb without running a very risk of electrocuting myself.

Only somewhat daunted, I returned to the conundrum: What does one write in a notebook that cries out to be written in, but which also demands quality content?

Continue reading »

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Guest post: Leonardo’s notebook

Posted January 25, 2010 by
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People, Where to Go? | Add your comment »

Guest blogger Lito Apostolakou is a freelance author, historian, and feature writer at Suite101; she also has a fascinating blog on the history of writing instruments. Here, she writes about seeing one of Leonardo’s notebooks.

It doesn’t look like much, in fact the humble notebook is no bigger than a pack of playing cards, yet it is one of the most precious objects on display in the new Medieval and Renaissance Galleries in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The notebook of Leonardo da Vinci which dates from 1490-3 is one of five owned by the museum and it was bequeathed by English collector, John Forster in 1876.

It is packed with tiny handwriting, notes about geometry, hydraulics and weights and (curiously) with drawings of hats. At the time Leonardo compiled his notebook he was working for Duke Ludovico Sforza in Milan and he was probably required to create costumes for court festivities – hence the hat drawings. The notebook seems to be suffering from ink corrosion (due to the iron gall ink Leonardo used) and is very light sensitive. It was a privilege to have seen it.

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DIY planners

Posted January 22, 2010 by
in Pens, Paper & People | 1 comment »

I’ve said it before, but everyone has their own idea of what makes a perfect planner. Most of us muddle through by selecting the company and format that best suits our needs, and perhaps a bit of customization.

Some dedicated souls, however, bust out their pens and their rulers and make the planner of their dreams. As a non-crafty person, I’m in awe of the patience this requires. But I can certainly see the appeal; after all, what other planning system can claim to be exactly tailored to the way you think and live?

If you’re curious about exploring homemade planners, check out Chet Chin’s posts about converting her large Habana notebook into a 2010 planner — then making sure it feels like her own.

Chet does her customization in advance and by hand, but reader Dave Terry uses a date stamp and stamps each new day as he goes. He also creates a detailed index so he can find things later. You can read more about Dave’s planning system on his blog and at D*I*Y Planner (which, incidentally, has a wonderful collection of ideas and templates for customized planners).

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Guest post: Pruning my pen collection

Posted January 21, 2010 by
in Editorial, Pens, Paper & People | 6 comments »

This morning’s post, from guest blogger Kate Marshall, reminds me of a quote that’s usually attributed to May West: “Too much of a good thing is wonderful.” Still, sometimes you’ve gotta pare things down…

I first started using fountain pens when I was a child but I didn’t start collecting or using them on a regular basis until about four years ago. Next thing I knew, I had about 20 fountain pens: Lamys, Bexleys, Sailors, Pelikans, etc. Eek. I had too many pens and I didn’t use them often enough to justify keeping them. It’s time to sell some pens. As I do this, I’ve been rethinking the focus of my pen collection. When all is said and done, I expect to have:

• four Pelikan M400s
• three Pelikan M620s
• one Pelikan M205
• two Aurora Optimas
• one Bexley Submariner SE
• one Namiki-Pilot Vanishing Point (also known as the Pilot Capless)
• one Sailor Professional Gear
• two Sailor Sapporos (Professional Gear Slim)
• one Levenger TrueWriter

In four years of pen collecting, I’ve learned that:

I really like Pelikans, especially when they or their nibs come from Richard Binder.

I favor piston-fillers and other filling methods over cartridge-converter filling systems.

Why didn’t I buy a Vanishing Point sooner? Despite the converter’s painfully tiny ink capacity, this is the best pen ever! And it comes in pink!

I’m really hoping that once my pen collection is slimmed down, I won’t snap up every new pen I see. By focusing on pens I really love, I hope to better appreciate their value and quality. I know there are others whose pen collections (or watch collections or misprinted calendar collections or what-have-you) number in the hundreds or even thousands. And that’s cool—Kate’s not here to judge. But I’ve decided that I just have too much darn stuff in my life and it’s time to pare it down.

Granted, the day that Pelikan announces a pink M400, all bets are off.

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User review: John Cullen on the Habana

Posted January 20, 2010 by
in Pens, Paper & People, Product Reviews | 3 comments »

Guest blogger John Cullen teaches literature at Ferris State University and has a lot of dogs and horses. He’s been a fountain pen fiend for about thirty years; here are his thoughts on the Habana…

(Image via Writer’s Bloc.)

Well, generally I have gotten pretty cynical about journals over the years. I hate to think how much I have spent only to end up throwing journals away because they will not open flat on the table or the paper inside the journal is so bad it makes the writing experience feel like punishment. Add to that the fact I use a fountain pen and you can see why finding a good journal has been a trial.

Recently I got on a chat board where people discussed these issues in depth and many people recommended I get a Quo Vadis Habana notebook. In fact, people spoke in glowing terms about these journals. Yeah, right, I thought, but then I figured I would give one a try. What a pleasant surprise this journal has been!

The Habana is roughly 5 x 9 inches and comes with 80 pages of Clairefontaine lined paper. The cover looks and feels like leather, and the spacing on the white paper is generous. So from a cosmetic perspective, this is a great journal. There is even a stretchy band to keep the journal closed.

But how would it work when actually put to use?

Continue reading »

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The Triomphe Torture Test

Posted January 19, 2010 by
in Cabinet of Curiosities, Pens, Paper & People | Add your comment »

Brian Goulet, pen maker behind the Goulet Pen Company, has started a series of vlogs at InkNouveau.com wherein he reviews the notebooks, stationery, and inks that his company also carries, and performs various experiments.

For instance: the Triomphe Torture Test, which I’ve embedded above, and which subjects a few unlucky sheets of Clairefontaine Triomphe stationery to some awfully vigorous testing to demonstrate the lack of bleedthrough and feathering. Go Triomphe!

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User review: Tom Hall on the Journal 21

Posted January 18, 2010 by
in Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips, Product Reviews | Add your comment »

IT lawyer, fountain pen aficionado, and guest blogger Tom Hall recently took the Journal 21 for a test drive. Here are his thoughts…

“Let me check my calendar.”

The first time I uttered those words, I knew I was no longer young and carefree, with my every moment under my sole control. On the other hand, it meant that I was out of school and gainfully employed. In another moment I realized that I did not HAVE a calendar. Thus I joined professionals worldwide in the Quest for the Perfect Planner.

For a long time I used a simple, pocket-sized planner. It was all I needed to navigate from meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting during the work day. More than once it kept me from arriving at the office on a holiday.

Then along came pocket sized, electronic planners. Like most guys, I’m a sucker for gadgets, and this one came with a built in rationalization: it made coordinating my schedule with my secretary far easier. I used it quite happily for several years, until I was asked to give a deposition in a contract dispute. The opposing attorney asked where I had been on a given day, several years earlier. Thanks to the electronic gadget, I was able to tell him. Unhappily, he decided to explore my schedule for that day in detail, and then did the same for every day for the week before and after. Needless to say, I no longer carry around such extensive records of my days.

As time moved forward, the maker of my favorite electronic gadget fell on hard times. They revised their products to keep pace with competition, raised their prices and eliminated the features I valued. When my gadgets wore out, I discovered that there were no adequate successors available. I was, apparently, obsolete. Somewhat bemused, I rejoined the Quest.

About this time, Karen put out a call for volunteers willing to test Exacompta planners. Her timing was exquisite. I had strayed from the True Path, and was attempting, with little success and much frustration, to sync the calendar on my cell phone with an on line service. My brother said it best: “Isn’t pencil and paper faster, easier and more reliable?”

Continue reading »

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To line or not to line

Posted January 15, 2010 by
in Pens, Paper & People, Planning Tips | 7 comments »

Clairfontaine_swatches

If good suggestions come in threes, it’s time to put this to a vote: would you be interested in an unlined planner? Jeff Abbott made the suggestion in a comment to an earlier post, where it was seconded by NateB.

Then Kim Brugger mentioned how busy the pages of her Minister looked, which I suspect has a lot to do with the lines.

At the moment, our only unlined planner is the Sapa X; I use it, and I’m definitely a fan of the clean and simple format. But it’s a relatively small planner, and that’s not to everyone’s taste.

Anyway, if you have an opinion one way or the other, talk to us! Let us know what you envision (is it a daily or a weekly planner? is it big or small? does it offer different boxes for organization, or just present you with one big, blank page?), or tell us why you think it would never work for you.

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