Review: Rhodia Webnotebook

All the pen and paper blogs seem to have been buzzing for months about the Rhodia Webnotebook. Fountain pen users in particular were eager to have a Moleskine alternative containing their beloved Clairefontaine paper. When these first hit the market, you could only get a version with 80g paper. Now, finally, the long-awaited 90g paper version is available, and the good people at Rhodia were kind enough to send me a sample for review. So let’s take a look!

The notebook I was sent was the 3.5 x 5.5″ orange notebook. I have to say, if someone is going to send me a free sample, I won’t presume to be picky. But I really hoped I’d get an orange one, so when this arrived I was psyched! I love the color– though I’m very fond of all my little black notebooks, sometimes it’s fun to have a change! The color is not what I was expecting– it’s not the solid orange of other Rhodia notebook covers, but instead a slightly lighter, textured-looking orange. When I say textured-looking, I mean it seems like a printing technique to use tiny dots of slightly varied shades of orange to replicate a texture-y look. It’s very subtle, and I liked the resulting effect. The actual feel of the cover is smooth and slightly soft.

notebook6285notebook6286

The cover has the Rhodia logo stamped in quite deeply. The soft, slightly padded cover takes impressions easily, as you can see from the areas where the elastic presses into it.
rhodiaweb1notebook62831

The orange endpapers are more the classic solid Rhodia orange, with no print or area where you’re supposed to write your name. The back pocket is also made of this orange paper.

rhodiaweb2rhodiaweb6
Strangely, this notebook is ever so slightly narrower than the 80g Webnotebook, shown here in black. But you can also see quite well that the heavier paper bulks the notebook up more so it’s thicker and somewhat less pocketable than other similar notebooks, such as the Markings notebook shown on the top of the pile at right below.
notebook6289notebook62829

I would guess that the paper weight is also why the notebook is a little stiff in the spine– it really doesn’t open flat as the 80g Webnotebook (shown below with a black cover), and at least when new, it retains a bit of springiness and tends to pop open a bit after you’ve pressed it open as flat as you can go.
rhodiaweb11rhodiaweb10rhodiaweb5rhodiaweb7

The paper has lines running to just short of the edges and margin, and the Rhodia logo appears in the bottom right corner. The logo shows through a bit from the back on the 80g paper version, but hardly at all in the 90g paper.
rhodiaweb8

And when you write on it, yes, it’s blissful. That smooth, creamy texture is absolutely sensual. It just cries out to be written on with a fine rollerball pen. Drawing a line on it with a Uniball Signo RT 0.38 is like… like… I don’t know, like slicing into the flesh of a ripe avocado… stroking the arm of an infant… drinking melted butter… maybe I’m getting carried away here. But I did have fun writing on it, and even used an orange pen for the first test! Show-through was fairly minimal– noticeably better than the 80g paper shown below.
notebook62857notebook62858

notebook62859notebook62860

Bottom line, it’s a very nice notebook, but I’m not sure it will make it to my daily usage pile. Why? Like the Pen & Ink sketchbook I reviewed a while back, it just feels a little “big” somehow– that wee bit of extra size makes it seem more formal, more stiff, more like something that would live on one’s desk as opposed to a scrappy little notebook you can toss in your bag and write grocery lists in. I also find it hard to make myself use notebooks with lined paper– I love unlined paper and graph paper because I find them more conducive to drawing. But the Rhodia Webnotebook would make a great journal for just writing– it’s substantial and the quality of the paper and construction are excellent, giving it a weighty, permanent feel. For my personal usage preferences, I’d love to see a plain or graph paper version with a softer, more flexible cover, or perhaps just fewer pages, but I’m sure many notebook users will be quite thrilled with the Rhodia Webnotebook just the way it is!

Rhodia Webnotebooks are made in France, using PEFC certified paper. They come in orange and black, in two sizes:

3.5 x 5.5″, suggested retail price $15

5.5 x 8.25″, suggested retail price $20

Rhodia products are widely available, and I’m sure the Webnotebooks will soon be stocked in all stores that carry the brand. I’ve seen the small 80g paper version at The Container Store for $12. Vickerey and The Daily Planner have the 90g pocket size for $15, large for $20.

8 thoughts on “Review: Rhodia Webnotebook”

  1. Yes, actually I just saw some 2010 planners from Rhodia that looked quite nice. You can see them here. These are week on a page with a notes page facing, though– I’m not aware of anything that is page a day, if that is what you are looking for.

  2. Fundamentally I had very similar impressions of the newer Webnotebook.

    And it is fatter than the Moleskine of the same size as it won’t fit comfortably into a little carrier I have recently been gifted.

    But the paper is smashing!

  3. Great review, I love all the comparison shots, and just the pictures in general…they are very helpful to see. I need to get myself one of the orange cover versions of this.

  4. Rhodia Web Notebooks have been a hit. There are a great alternative to someone who wants something similar to a Moleskine but wants a higher quality paper. If buying a web notebook, make sure to get the 90g over the 80g. The 90g notebooks have a superior feel and take the fountain ink beautifully. However, out of all Rhodia Notebooks, I still prefer the top wirebound graph notebook EXA-16500, it seems to fit my personality better.

  5. Your shoebox tour brought me to this review, which I’d never seen before. Hardbound Rhodia pocket-size Webnotebooks are my all-time favorite for travel journals because of the sturdy covers. True, it’s a bit bulkier than I prefer, but I enjoy the more meaty heft of it. I feel like a major trip (2+ weeks in another country) deserves the substance. Maybe my contents (journaling and sketches) don’t live up to the covers ;-) but at least the covers will not fall off or stain too easily while I’m scribbling in trains and on cafe tables.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.