Seven Seas Tomoe River Journal Review

[inkypete]

I think marks and wear say "I know quality and class but I'm not precious or pretentious." :-)

Oh! So I used to be precious and pretentious?

[Newjelan]

Oh! So I used to be precious and pretentious?

I have nothing to add. :-l

[Newjelan]

I agree. I can't wait for it to get worn and age beautifully. :-) But, first I suppose I have to wait for it to arrive... In the mail though!

You will love it!

[inkypete]

I have nothing to add. :-l

My innocence is what has carried me through life to date. By the way which covers do you have? I have a couple for the A4 and A5 Clairefontaine basics, and a couple for the Habana although when my stash of original Habanas runs out they may become redundant. Also have one for the Rhodia A5 pad that I use for my correspondence as the envelopes are stored in the sleeve pocket. Gotta love Gfeller.

[Newjelan]

My innocence is what has carried me through life to date. By the way which covers do you have?

This is my first. I have a beautiful, 10yr old Piquadro Leather cover for A4 notebooks, namely Clairfontaine & Rhodia (along with a lovely, soft and much battered, small Piquadro Pencil/pen case). I'm thinking of ordering a Gfeller cover for B5 notebooks once I decide which B5 notebook is my preferred one.

[inkypete]

I just ordered a few things, including two journals, from seven seas. Hoping my existing Gfellers will fit. Can't wait to get them.

[inkypete]

This is my first. I have a beautiful, 10yr old Piquadro Leather cover for A4 notebooks, namely Clairfontaine & Rhodia (along with a lovely, soft and much battered, small Piquadro Pencil/pen case). I'm thinking of ordering a Gfeller cover for B5 notebooks once I decide which B5 notebook is my preferred one.

Piquadro stuff looks great. On my want list. Can't find an A5 cover as that is most of my needs.

[mm1624124]

 

This is my first. I have a beautiful, 10yr old Piquadro Leather cover for A4 notebooks, namely Clairfontaine & Rhodia (along with a lovely, soft and much battered, small Piquadro Pencil/pen case). I'm thinking of ordering a Gfeller cover for B5 notebooks once I decide which B5 notebook is my preferred one.

 

I just ordered a B5 Gfeller kip cover for the Tsubame notebooks. I'm very happy with the Gfeller cover for the Seven Seas notebook. Fits Midori A5 like a glove too.

 

I just ordered a few things, including two journals, from seven seas. Hoping my existing Gfellers will fit. Can't wait to get them.

 

You'll love the Seven Seas notebooks and the service is impeccable.

[yogalarva]

My cover arrived today! :-) Wheeeeeee! A bit stiffer than I expected, but I'm interested to see how it softens and darkens with age.

 

 

 

[crbrown]

I just wish this journal was offered in unlined, with so many resources on his site about using guides etcetera its a shame he doesn't offer this notebook that way.

[mhguda]

Here's another voice in support of unlined TR paper in his notebooks. I'll use it lined, but my preference is unlined, by far.

[yogalarva]

I just wish this journal was offered in unlined, with so many resources on his site about using guides etcetera its a shame he doesn't offer this notebook that way.

 

 

Here's another voice in support of unlined TR paper in his notebooks. I'll use it lined, but my preference is unlined, by far.

 

Oh I agree. I don't know that I've seen any Tomoe River books with blank paper, but if the Seven Seas had it I would literally never use another notebook in my life. :-)

[inkstainedruth]

Those are nice looking (even with the show-through) -- and I love Tomoe River paper. But I can't justify the expense at the moment (especially after my husband just commissioned three different sized hand-bound books for me from a friend of mine.

Do you know whether these come in smaller sizes (just for curiosity's sake)?

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: For size, I mean page dimension, BTW -- one of the things that attracted me to these (in spite of the cost) was the high page count.

Edited April 27, 2014 by inkstainedruth

[kazoolaw]

Oh I agree. I don't know that I've seen any Tomoe River books with blank paper, but if the Seven Seas had it I would literally never use another notebook in my life. :-)

Isn't the journal at Paper for Fountain Pens (now out of stock) pretty close?

 

gary

[mhguda]

Yes, except for page count. And page size. And they are great, I use them, but the Seven Seas has its place, too.

BTW, I wasn't aware that the Paper for Fountain pens journals were sold out, let's just hope they restock soon!

[crbrown]

And it's hard bound and doesn't look to be able to lay flat.

[Mags]

Isn't the journal at Paper for Fountain Pens (now out of stock) pretty close?

 

gary

I think the journal i have is. All blank with a stiff fabric book cover. I hope they have more in stock soon. I ordered cream and got white but you can not go wrong with white....unlined and wonderful. The tip everyone is to buy 2 or more of these gems.

[DrCodfish]

 

 

 

Oh I agree. I don't know that I've seen any Tomoe River books with blank paper, but if the Seven Seas had it I would literally never use another notebook in my life. :-)

Design Y hand made by Hiroshi Yoshino in Japan offer unlined journals in TR paper. Very high quality, but much more expensive. I am using one now (EP Record), about halfway through with it after a year. Once I have completed it I will probably switch to Seven Seas because of price and nothing more. My design Y is flawless, the goat skin cover is aging pleasantly. Though the leather is tanned it is beginning to show slight signs of use and aging; the wabi sabi aesthetic. An artistic value quite apart from the western tradition of valuing perfection as an element of beauty, though no less revered in Japanese culture.

[_Stormin_]

I think I am going to have to order a Seven Seas and a cover when the site is back up tomorrow... I am one of the few that actually like a lined journal, and the paper seems to top just about everything on the market today.

[egretsrus]

I also have a Design Y journal which is MAGNIFICENT. However, it is small and was very expensive.

I recently bought a Seven Seas Tomoe River journal with lines and it is perfect. The Design Y is such a work of art, I haven't written in it yet and have had it for about two years (however, I plan to start a journal for a new grandson). The Seven Seas journal, I started writing in the first day and haven't stopped yet.

I bought the skirtings leather Gfeller cover and slipped a piece of cardboard inside the back cover flap to give a bit more firmness for writing. Inspired for several years by Steve Light, our wonderful FPN author/illustrator, I decided to distress it myself. I put a light coat of mink oil on it, two coats of Kiwi paste brown and cordovan shoe polish, respectively, brushed vigorously after each coat, then finished off with a coat of Fiebings tan leather dye.

I buffed it with a standard shoeshine brush, but ended up using a suede brush...much stiffer, causing texture and some scratches for later coats to soak into. Consider using the suede brush between paste coats, too. I'm thrilled with how the cover turned out. It's kind of distressed terra cotta color with lots of texture...reminds me of Italian buildings I love with layers of earth-tone paints peeking through with scratches and rough patches. I took photos with my iPhone 5 but haven't been able to figure out how to load them. Again, I don't think I've ever loved a journal-and-cover more...and I've used 'em all