Review: Quo Vadis Habana Notebooks

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a recent Quo Vadis Habana notebook from the good people at Exaclair (I chose black, red and orange are also available). They are currently made in the U.S. (Hamburg, NY) and use PEFC paper (in fact, the Habana is PEFC certified), also known as 'Clairefontaine' 90g paper at the moment.

[Update: See the great review of the Habana from Biffybeans.]

[2nd Update: See an updated review of the paper from Biffybeans!]

The cover is a soft padded 'leatherette,' the entire notebook is flexible, though it's too big to put into a hip pocket, you'd need a smaller journal for that.

N.B.: In the future the Quo Vadis Habana notebooks will be made in France with 80g ivory (instead of white) Clairefontaine paper. They will not arrive in the U.S. until late fall/early winter 2008.

All of the Exaclair papers (more on the papers)(Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Quo Vadis, etc.) are in the process of being made with PEFC paper.

The highlights:

• 80 sheets
• lined
• rounded corners
• 6 1/4" x 9 1/4"
• acid-free, pH neutral
• rear pocket
• elastic strap
  

A few misc. pics (click on a pic to see full-size):







And a few more pics (click on a pic to see full-size):







And now for a quick writing test followed by a check for bleed-through. None that I can see. Note that this is with the current 90g paper? Will the future 80g paper work as well? Probably, but I look forward to checking them out once they become available. In the picture below you can see the various pens and inks I used in the test.

[The fountain pen ink I used in the Pelikan M800 was J. Herbin Eclate de Saphir, an absolutely beautiful shade of blue from my favorite (non pen manufacturer) ink company. Hiighly recommended! Also see this earlier review.]

In short, these Quo Vadis Habana notebooks look to be another great product and choice for notebook/journal users and fans! ;-)





Misc. Links:
Quo Vadis
Exaclair, Inc.
Official Quo Vadis Blog
Habana Notebooks
J. Herbin