I had not heard of Beechmore Books notebooks until the company contacted me to offer a sample. The creator, Sam Horbye, named the company after the street he grew up on in London, and says:
I created Beechmore Books because I wanted a notebook that had the elegance of a Smythson, the every-day use style of a Moleskine but with paper that was thick and avoided bleed-through (ours is 120 gsm).
That all sounded pretty good to me! And I will say right up front that he delivers on this promise, at a price you would not expect.
Beechmore Books Notebook Exterior and Packaging
The Beechmore Books notebook arrives in a shrinkwrapped protective box. It’s not a super fancy box, but it does make it a little more gifty. When I removed the notebook from the packaging, I thought, oh, it’s leather! Upon closer inspection, I realized that. like most notebooks these days, the cover is actually a faux leather, but the texture and rich brown color are very nice, more realistic than most.
This is an A5 size, approximately 5.75 x 8.25″, and .75″ thick. There is a removable paper band with the brand name. The logo is also crisply stamped on the back cover. The construction of this notebook is great– symmetrical edges, nothing out of square, everything tight and neat. There is some cover overhang but it’s well-proportioned and the corners are rounded just right. It definitely gives the first impression of a higher quality notebook.
Beechmore Books Notebook Interior
Inside the notebook, there is a postcard with a Ray Bradbury quote and contact information. The brand logo appears again on the inside front cover, but otherwise the endpapers are totally plain. Mine had a few specs of ink– I’m not sure if I did that myself without noticing, or if something smeared during the manufacturing process– the specs seem to align with the line spacing on the pages. If it is a manufacturing defect, it is a very minor one, and the only one I could detect in this notebook.
There is a ribbon marker that matches the cover and the back has an expanding pocket. The notebook opens flat, and inside you find 160 pages of 120 GSM creamy paper with wide-spaced (8mm) lines, with slightly larger spaces at the top and bottom.
Beechmore Books Pen Tests
The paper quality is superb. When I first touched it, I thought, ooh, smooth and thick. When I first wrote a few notes on it with a gel ink pen, it felt great. And when I started testing all my fountain pens, I thought “hallelujah!” For the most part, it passed my tests with flying colors. Fountain pens did not bleed through at all, with the slight exception of a vintage Waterman with a flexible nib where I was applying a fair amount of pressure. (Also, that nib is a bit crooked and scratchy, so it may tear at the paper fibers a bit more than most.) My only other quibbles were that the Bleu Nuit ink seemed to feather slightly, and Apache Sunset had a somewhat blotchy look. Otherwise, only my wettest markers bled, and show-through was minimal. It is one of the most fountain pen friendly notebooks I have reviewed.
Conclusion
This is a GREAT notebook. I don’t usually use lined journals in this size myself, but if it was pocket size and dotted or plain or squared paper, it would be my next daily carry. Beechmore notebooks were recently sold out in most formats, so I guess they are off to a great start, and I hope their product line will expand to include a pocket size version. As of this writing, all Beechmore notebooks are back in stock at Amazon in both dotted and lined versions, in black and brown faux leather, and also in a cork covered version.
As for the price, first let’s note the competition: A classic Moleskine of this size has a list price of $19.95 and terrible paper. An A5 Rhodia Webnotebook is usually $19.95 and up, with good paper but a less elegant exterior. A Smythson notebook has a real leather cover and thin fountain pen friendly paper, but prices start at $75 for a small pocket size notebook. The Beechmore Books A5 notebook is $15.95 on Amazon, a great value for a notebook of this size and quality. (If you are in the UK, you can order directly from Beechmore’s website at £12 per notebook, which includes free shipping.)
And courtesy of the folks at Beechmore, you can enter to win a notebook in the color and page format of your choice. Please note that the prize can only be shipped to North America, UK or the EU. One winner will be randomly selected from entries received in any of these ways:
On Twitter, tweet something containing “Beechmore Books Notebook @NotebookStoriesâ€, and follow @NotebookStories .
On Facebook, “like†the Notebook Stories page and post something containing the words “Beechmore Books Notebook†on the Notebook Stories page.
On your blog, post something containing the words “Beechmore Books Notebook†and “Notebook Stories†and link back to this post, also leaving a comment below with the link in case the trackback doesn’t work.
On Instagram, follow @Notebook.Stories and comment on my Beechmore Books post, tagging a friend and adding a hashtag of your favorite adjective describing the Beechmore Books notebook. (Example: “@myfriendsally #fountainpenfriendly”)
The deadline for entry is Friday March 15, 2019 at 11:59PM, EST. Good luck everyone!
I received a free sample of this notebook to review but no other compensation. All opinions are my own.
How smooth is the paper when using a fountain pen? The Baron Fig Confidants are pretty ok with fountain pens as far as thickness goes, but they’re pretty toothy which for me is less than ideal for using a fountain pen with.
I just did a side by side touch test and it is definitely smoother than Baron Fig. It is slightly less smooth than Rhodia paper.
Oooh, I love that mix of Ku-Jaku and Chiku-rin! I think the latter is a bit pale on its own, but that mix is very nice!
Yes, I loved the Chiku-Ron when I tested it in the store, but then thought it seemed washed out in my pens at home, especially on creamy-toned paper. (Though it seemed a little darker after it had dried.) But a little Ku-Jaku really perked it up!
Is the notebook acid-free?
My PH-test pen shows it being acid free.
@Nifty Thank you so much for testing!