Friday, January 15, 2010

Clairefontaine Triomphe Torture Test

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.

Clairefontaine Triomphe Overview

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!

Clairefontaine Staplebound Overview

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.

Ink Nouveau Intro, My Very First Video

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!