Clairefontaine Vs. Tomoe?

[bkelley]

I have been lurking here for awhile and am about to make my first purchase of high quality paper. I've narrowed it down to Clairefontaine and Tomoe. Which would you recommend to a newbie for nice letter writing?

[inkypete]

Two totally different papers, both top quality. I have both and prefer Clairefontaine as it is substantially heavier (thicker). Tomoe is a beautiful writing sheet but considerably lighter in weight. Can't go wrong either way. Why not treat yourself and get some of both. You will love them.

[JonSzanto]

You will end up with a lot of opinions, and there might even appear to be a consensus, but I'll state this: it is all pretty meaningless unless you try both and decide for yourself. It is a very personal set of feedbacks, all about look and feel and performance. Only YOU can decide which you'd like for your correspondence, so I'd urge you to get as small a sample of each that is reasonable and decide between them on your own.

[migo984]

I do a LOT of letter-writing and which of these I use for a particular letter usually comes down to whatever pen & ink combo I'm using, and to be honest, what mood I'm in. They are both wonderful papers. My preferences within the brands are Clairefontaine Triomphe and Tomoe River White.

 

You need to give them both a go as everyone will have a reason for their own preference.

 

ps I don't use these two exclusively.

Edited January 23, 2014 by migo984

[GMT]

I agree with the suggestions to buy a few sheets and see which you like. Tomoe is incredible paper (and I am currently using a Design-Y EP journal), but I prefer a thicker paper, overall. Just personal preference.

[ziptrickhead]

When you say Clairefontaine for letter writing I'm going to assume you mean Triomphe. Between Triomphe and Tomoe River for letters I prefer Triomphe. Tomoe River paper is really nice and I have a few pads of it and I love it, but it's kind of a paper that few people will appreciate. It's thin and crinkly and your average person may think it feels cheap (although all of us fountain pen users know better). On the other hand Triomphe is thicker and has a very nice quality hand feel to it. Ink will also dry quicker on Triomphe over Tomoe River if you decide you don't want to use a blotter. With some letters on Tomoe River I've had to leave it overnight to dry and even then some ink/pen combos will still leave smudges.

 

Also Triomphe has the added benefit of matching envelopes.

 

The biggest benefit I feel that Tomoe River has over Triomphe is mailing costs. Because it's so thin, you can mail more pages of Tomoe River at the same price of Triomphe or even regular paper at that (I believe that was one of the major reasons why the paper was made in the first place).

[Aquinata]

I have both. Tomoe River is my favorite for anything I want to write. Totally subjective, of course, and you really should try each one.

 

Not to forget- the cream version is also very different from the white when thinking about your ink color preferences and the overall look of the written page..

[sarahfar]

Completely different papers. Both have been sized, but generally Rhodia and Clarefontaine are 80 to 90 gsm, Tomoe is 55 gsm. I think they write closely in terms of appearance for ink on paper. I like Rhodia and Triomphe, but Tomoe is flat out incredible. I'd love to see what it would be like say at 70 gsm.....