Ink Nouveau

I'm introducing my new Ink Blots! They're short videos with topics that aren't robust enough to make into a formal 'review'. They'll be more conversational, with more of a focus on the ideas I have than the 'production' of the video. I tend to overthink quite a bit when I'm doing videos, especially on product reviews. It usually generates a very thorough and well-thought-out end result, but it's very time consuming and often results in procrastination. With shorter and more informal videos, I will be able to share much more about everything I have going on, and keep the information more up-to-date.

Whenever you hear talk of fine paper, Clairefontaine and Rhodia will always come up. What's confusing though is that some people know the difference between the two, and others don't, so rumors spread. Well I'm here to clear up some of the confusion between the two brands.

G. Lalo is an old paper maker in France, and their Vergé de France line is a very nice paper for correspondence. This review covers what it's all about.

Glass pens? You got it, these things are made entirely out of glass. Handmade in France, each one is unique and a piece of art. They were all the rage in the mid-17th century, back when J. Herbin first started making fountain pen ink (circa 1670). Sure, they're not the most practical pens in the world, but they are novel, beautiful, and have a very functional purpose for the fountain pen enthusiast.

The Exacompta Sketchbook is a neat little book. It's 5.5" x 8", 100 sheets of 100g textured off-white paper, the same as G. Lalo Vergé de France. It has a thin black cover, cloth binding and silver edges on the paper, which make it look pretty snazzy!! To keep your page, it has a ribbon marker.

A relatively new product on the market, the Quo Vadis Elastic Bookmark is a handy little tool that can improve the portability of any book or journal you have. For anything that doesn't have a page marker or elastic strap, this elastic bookmark can fix both of those problems.

Watch as I take and basically dump a puddle of ink from my pen onto the ever-popular Clairefontaine Triomphe stationary paper and some cheap copy paper I pulled out of my printer. You will be amazed at the different reactions you'll see between the cheap paper and the Triomphe.

I do a basic overview of the delectable Clairefontaine Triomphe stationary tablets and envelopes. Triomphe has been around for about 60 years, and is the premier stationary in the world for fountain pen usage. The paper is 90g, and has an almost miraculous ability to repel ink, keeping any ink from feathering, bleeding through, or echoing (showing through on the backside). The paper is ultra-white, and is known as some of the smoothest paper in the world. There are two different sizes of Triomphe, and A4 and A5 size with envelopes to match. The paper comes 50 sheets to a tablet, with a glue binding at the top with the intention of having each sheet easily torn out of the tablet. The envelopes themselves are also 90g, extremely fountain pen friendly, slightly textured, and self-sealing. Keep your tongue in your mouth!

I review and compare the 5 most popular Clairefontaine staplebound notebooks. These include C3586,C63596, C3606, C381 (Séyès/French ruled!), and C63125. I do a writing test comparison between a small Mead Composition notebook and the C3586 (3"x4"), and there really is no comparison! The 90g smooth Clairefontaine paper in these staplebound notebooks is really some of the best writing paper in the world, especially for use with fountain pens.

This is the first Ink Nouveau episode ever, an insight into my daily life as the pen maker behind the Goulet Pen Company. Part 1 covers my views on passion through writing, and a tour of my 'warehouse' and shipping operation. Part 2 covers a tour of my workshop where I make each of my pens by hand. I have a host of different woods and resin materials that I use to make each pen. Rachel (my wife) thinks I have too much wood, more than I'll ever use in my lifetime, and she's absolutely right! My shop is messy, but I'm okay with that. I think it's been 'picture-worthy' clean once, when I had set up all my tools and before I made my first pen. Since then, it's always a mess, because it's a 'working' shop!