In the almost five years that I've been writing this blog, I can probably count the amount of excellent paper products I reviewed on one hand. For a long time I thought I was just unrealistically picky. Fountain pens -after all- are quite demanding in terms of paper quality...
But in reality, it's just a matter of searching in the right places. So many brands claim that their paper is fountain pen friendly, however from experience I know that in reality that's not always the case. But I don't give up, and recently I've had a couple excellent notebooks cross my path, such as the Midori MD (review can be found HERE). So eventually I'd have to come across another one that surprises me, right?
Milligram suggested I'd try out their new line of Milligram Studio stationery. Milligram Studio is a selection of luxury stationery, ranging from desk accessories, collabs with established brands, and their own range of notebooks. I was sold on their design style right away. You can clearly notice their preference for minimal looks, which is something I can completely get behind. I was under the impression that they were first and foremost focused on design, not so much on paper quality.
I was wrong.
The notebook they sent me is part of the Linen notebook range. As the name suggests, it's a hardcover notebook wrapped in cloth. The paper type (blank , dot grid, grid or ruled) is hot foiled on the front in silver, the Milligram logo can be found on the back. The Linen notebooks are available in both B5 (25 x 19 cm), or A5 (21 x 15 cm). This particular one is the larger B5, which I think is a pleasant size to write in, yet you sacrifice some portability.
I like the simplicity of the design, and the linen cover is sturdy and durable. Unfortunately the black fabric does pick up dirt and dust quite fast. One of the other color schemes (terracotta, blue or beige) might be a better choice in that regard. Overall construction of the notebook seems to be excellent. In the few months that I have been carrying it with me, I noticed no wear and tear. Pages are sewn together, and can lay almost entirely flat.
A black elastic closure keeps the notebook shut, and on the inside you'll find a black ribbon page marker, and a pocket inside the back cover. There's no table of contents, and pages aren't numbered. Considering the retail price, it could've been a bit more feature packed. But just like the design, they kept the functionality simple and straightforward.
The paper is where the real value of this notebook is at though. Inside you'll find 96 sheets (192 pages) of 85 gsm Italian Fabriano paper. You might've heard of Fabriano paper before, and in that case you'll know it means good quality.
This is one of those cases where fountain pen friendly isn't just an empty statement. It's fantastic to write on with everything from fountain pen to pencil. It's smooth, but has the slightest bit of texture so that it can accommodate most writing utensils quite well. However I would recommend it mainly for use with fountain pens.
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| The reverse side of the test page |
I found the overall experience not too dissimilar from the Life Tsubame notebook I reviewed a long time ago (read the review HERE). The paper accommodates ink like a champ, without any bleeding or feathering at all (Some ink swabs showed some minor bleedthrough as you can see in the photo above, but the back of the page is still perfectly usable). Because the paper is relatively thin, you do get some ghosting on the other side of the page.
Shading is present, but not with as much depth as on the Tsubame paper, or Rhodia for that matter. Sheen, on the other hand, does come across quite nicely. The Tsubame paper seemed prone to oils from your hands transferring to the page (causing fountain pen nibs to skip), this Fabriano paper doesn't seem to have that issue, or at least not nearly as pronounced.
Milligram pleasantly surprised me with their Linen notebook. The simple yet detailed presentation and design, combined with excellent paper, makes me want to see more of their brand. The Milligram Studio Linen notebooks carry a pricetag of 40 AUD (approx. 30 USD or 25 EUR) for the large B5, or 35 AUD (approx. 26 USD or 22 EUR) for the A5 size. It's not particularly cheap paper, but the quality more than makes up for that if you ask me.
This product was sent to me by Milligram so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affilate links.
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