Leuchtturm1917 Master & Medium Journals Review (with Rhodia Webnotebook comparisons)

[halidak]

This is a much delayed review. I’ve been meaning to post this for more than two months but I felt too lazy to shoot the photographs. Anyway, finally here it is now. My first paper/journal review;
(Please note, in some of the photographs you may see a white dot paper. That's a sheet from Rhodia DotPad that I used for white balance corrections and to give you an idea of the colour of Leuchtturm paper)

I don’t know why but I’d always been neglecting the paper leg of the 'Pen-Ink-Paper' trio until the beginning of this year. That is maybe because standard papers/notebooks and Moleskines (which back then, when I was using them, were not as bad as people claim that they are nowadays), seemed adequate for my needs or maybe because my primary choice for nibs was standard M or B. As my nibs started getting broader and broader to BB, 1.5mm or 1.9mm stubs I thought it was time to look for more quality paper.

As you all might have guessed my quick search had brought me to one name; Rhodia Webnotebook. I got it, I used it and nothing has ever been the same again. The Rhodia paper was phenomenal, nothing like any paper I’d ever tried before, but the overall physical quality and the format of Webbies were not exactly perfect for me.

So the search continued until I came across Leuchtturm1917 journals.


Leuchtturm Master - Plain & Dotted in Black

Many additional features that Rhodia Webbies lacked and getting more pages per notebook have convinced me to try them. The only question remained to be answered was about the paper quality and whether it’s as good as (or at least close enough to) Rhodia paper.

Before going on into details regarding paper quality let me first introduce those features that made me want to try the Leuchtturm;

Leuchtturm hard-cover journals come in three sizes;

• Master: A4+, 225x315mm or 8.86x12.40in with 233 pages (There is also a Slim version of Master with 121 pages)

Features listed at the back flier of Leuchtturm Master


Product information cards

Master size is slightly larger than standard A4. This enables you to store unfolded A4 papers either in between the pages or inside the back pocket.


Document pocket at the back of Leuchtturm Master

Rhodia A4 is 210x297mm or 8.25x11.75in (exactly in standard A4 size and hence smaller than Leuchtturm Master).


Left: Red Leuchtturm Master, Right: Rhodia Webnotebook A4


Rhodia Webnotebook A4 is smaller than Leuchtturm Master

• Medium: A5, 145x210mm or 5.71x8.27in with 249 pages

Two Leuchtturm Medium journals, one in caramel and the other in cornflower colour


Features listed at the back of Leuchtturm Medium

Rhodia A5 with dimensions of 140x210 mm or 5.5x8.25in is slightly smaller than Leuchtturm Medium.


Rhodia Webnotebook A5 at the bottom and Leuchtturm Mediums on top of it


Covers of Rhodia Webnotebook A5 are thicker than those of Leuchtturm Medium. It's also the same for Master vs. Rhodia A4.

• Pocket: 90x150mm or 3.54x5.91in with 185 pages

Rhodia Pocket with dimensions of 90x140mm or 3.5x5.5in is also slightly smaller than Leuchtturm counterpart.


The last 8 sheets on all sizes are detachable in case you want to practice your origami skills. A feature I could live without.

Rhodia Webnotebook claims to contain 96 sheets. However, the first and the last sheets always come as partially glued to covers. I don't know you but I can't use these sheets and hence in practice Rhodia can offer me only 188 pages. Leuchtturm, on the other hand, offers 45 pages more in Master journal and 61 pages more in Medium journal than Rhodia Webbies. There are some occasions that I may find 188 pages to be just enough but generally speaking, for most of my purposes having more pages is always appreciated.

There are more than just page counts in the Leuchtturm;

• All sizes have index pages at the beginning to record important pages - a most-welcomed and nice touch!

Index page in Leuchtturm Master


Index page in Leuchtturm Medium

• All pages are numbered,

Leuchtturm Master Dotted


Leuchtturm Medium Dotted in cornflower colour at the top

(To be continued in the next post...)