Goulet Notebook with Tomoe River Paper A5 Dotgrid: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Goulet Pens now offers its own brand of notebooks in various sizes, including A5, Traveler’s Notebook regular size, Traveler’s Notebook passport size, and Pocket size. Each style is offered in blank, ruled, dot grid, and graph options, and all are filled with Tomoe River Paper.

I’m reviewing the A5 size dot grid notebook. It comes simply packaged in cellophane paper with a sticker on the front identifying it as a Goulet product. The back sticker indicates the thickness of the Tomoe paper, the size, and the type of ruling.

The notebook itself has absolutely no branding. The cover is made of dark brown kraft paper. You get 32 sheets of 68gsm Tomoe paper for a total of 64 pages. The notebook is staple bound (two staples).

I like dot grid paper because it is less distracting than ruled paper and it allows you to write in any direction.

The dots on the Goulet paper are visible but aren’t so dark that they overwhelm the page.

I tested out the paper in various ways. I wrote a forthcoming review about the Visconti Divina Elegance fountain pen. The paper behaved wonderfully. The ink doesn’t bleed, but it sheens pretty dramatically on this paper.

*Close up of writing. Ink: Robert Oster Peppermint.*

I did a currently inked pens page with swabs, and the paper handled all the inks and swabs well.

And I tried out several different writing instruments (ball points, fountain pens, and mechanical pencils). No problems at all.

The paper is what you’d expect from Tomoe: creamy, smooth, and thin. Except for pencils and super fine ball points, you do get quite a bit of show-through on the reverse sides of pages.

But the only significant show-through I experienced was with a swab of some super wet Kyoto ink. None of the ink actually penetrated through the paper, but the show-through is much more noticable.

The show-through you get with Tomoe River Paper may be so distracting for some writers that they will only want to write on one side of each page. That is what I wound up doing with my Visconti Review. However, I use Tomoe River paper in my daily journal. I write on both sides of the page, and the show through doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, I love how crinkly the pages become as I fill them in. I’m weird that way.

The Goulet A5 Notebook Dot Grid is $8.00 at Goulet Pens. I am a huge fan of Tomoe River paper, and Goulet offers it in the sizes most pen folks want. I highly recommend you try some if you haven’t already.

(Goulet Pens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on July 7, 2017 by Susan Pigott and filed under Goulet, Notebook Reviews.

Parker Jotter Ballpoint Pen Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

The Parker Jotter is a tried and true classic that keeps upgrading, and this new two-tone, all-metal Victoria Violet body feels fresh while still nodding to vintage elegance. I was genuinely surprised by the price of these new editions, because they look and feel like a much more expensive pen. The writing experience was also a pleasant surprise.

The all-aluminum body is made in France. It's quite small and slim, so may not be comfortable for long writing sessions if you have large hands. The clip is stiff and in the classic Parker arrow shape. The edges of the arrow are sharp, so I'd caution against clipping this to light fabrics. The pen is small enough that the clip also ends up hitting my hand when the pen rotates, so I find I have to adjust it from time to time. The finish can be a bit slick to hold if your hands are at all sweaty, but the texture of the aluminum helps with grip under normal writing circumstances. The new line of colors are fun and gorgeous, ranging from whimsical to executive. And the premium styles of the Jotters are downright snazzy.

This pen has one of the most satisfying clicks I've ever experienced. It's loud, solid, and has a good amount of resistance. You could drive people crazy with this click and I love it.

The refill supplied is a blue Quinkflow cartridge, which is specially formatted for smooth, consistent writing. I think it achieves that. The ballpoint glides nicely on paper, and I never had any skips or hard starts. I did sometimes get that blob of ink at the start of a letter, and it will smear a little if you run your hand over the blob. But that seems like a universal ballpoint issue. The pen will take any parker style refill, though, so there are a ton of other options. I think a Fisher Space Pen refill in this would make it the perfect purse pen, or traveling journal pen.

For me, this pen is unseating the Karas Kustoms Retrakt in my I-need-a-pen-that-isn't-a-fountain-pen slot. Other pens that have occupied that seat are the Cross Click Classic and the Retro 51 Tornado. All of those are at least twice (if not three times) the cost of this Jotter, and so far it has performed better than all of them, for me. And if you're primarily a fountain pen user, but you acknowledge the occasional need for a ballpoint, this really is the perfect one. It looks and feels like you're spoiling yourself, but the price is low enough that you'll still have to add a fountain pen to your cart to get free shipping.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on July 6, 2017 by Sarah Read and filed under Parker, Ballpoint, Pen Reviews.

Zebra Sarasa Grand Gel Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Zebra Sarasa Grand Gel pen is another entry in the premium barrel category for the budget-friendly refills we know and love. It seems like all of the big brands have a metal, classy version of their popular gel or rollerball offerings, and the Grand Gel is a strong competitor.

Like the competition, the Grand Gel features a sleek, minimal body made from brass which is then topped with a thin layer of aluminum to provide a handful of color options. At the $15 - $20 mark, it feels on par with what you would expect: Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely a welcome upgrade from the normal plastic body.

The Sarasa Grand Gel is most closely related to the Sarasa Clip. The clip on the Grand Gel isn't as springy as the regular Clip, but it's still functional and strong. The length and diameter are roughly the same as well, but the Grand Gel has a bit more heft due to the brass interior.

Branding is minimal, with only a "Zebra Sarasa" mention on the body above the grip section and a "Sarasa" stamp along the clip. Apart from that, the body is clean and sleek. There are some small grooves that follow the length of the grip section, but no other grip material is present. Despite the smooth feel, it offers plenty of grip and control when writing. It also helps tremendously that the Sarasa refills are so smooth — this ensures you can grip the pen lightly while writing since there's very little friction from the point.

The click mechanism is strong and reliable. It makes an audible click, but it's about 50% quieter than the regular Sarasa Clip noise.

The refill that came in this model is the 0.7mm version, which is lusciously smooth and dark. I normally prefer something 0.5mm or smaller, but this has been a treat. The width is similar to a medium fountain pen nib, and it's smooth as can be. I've really been enjoying writing with this pen because of the refill, but also because of the feel of the pen body. The ink is dark and precise, and since this pen fits any of the Sarasa refills, you have a lot of color and size options.

In terms of writing experience, the pen is balanced and sure In the hand. The smooth refill makes the writing experience very enjoyable. Even though the grip is fairly smooth, I haven't had any problems with it becoming slippery or uncomfortable. It's a great writer, and it instantly upgrades the Zebra Sarasa refill that many of us already love.

If you want to dress up your favorite gel refill, and that refill happens to be the Sarasa, then this is a great pen for you. It will perform well and look good doing it with your choice of Black, Navy, Gold, or Pink barrels. At under $20, it's a bit pricey compared to a Sarasa Clip (at less than $2), but the additional weight and sleek aesthetic make this a good deal.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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