Clairefontaine versus Leuchtturm versus Moleskine for Bullet Journaling
I'm going to write down the features of each Notebook, so that you can determine which notebook is for you, and to elaborate on a prior post, Monday Musings 4 (scroll down to the last part).
Some people really love smooth paper, others prefer a paper that has more grip, so I'll list each notebook's features, so you can see which notebook fits your style.
The notebooks I got were all A4 (equivalent to American letter-sized paper). The Clairefontaine was French-Ruled, Leuchtturm was Grid-Style, and the Moleskine was Lined.
Paper quality
I can only comment on ball point pens, and so far, all three notebooks handle ball point extremely well, with no bleed-through, and you can't see the ink on the other side of the paper when held up to light (I believe called ghosting), so it's safe to write on both sides of the paper.
The smoothest is clearly the Clairefontaine, and, for me, it's a joy to write on the paper. Apparently, with this comparison, I was surprised that I prefer extremely smooth paper, as I thought I'd like a more tactile feel for grip.
The next smoothest, with some grip to it, is the Leuchtturm, which is nice, but not something that you quite look forward to writing in like the Clairefontaine's paper.
I found the Moleskine TOO rough and the pen simply doesn't glide, so it's not satisfying to write on this paper, and actually becomes uncomfortable after awhile. I didn't enjoy writing on it, and I felt that I had to bear down on it with my pen. However, if you really like rough feeling and very tactile paper, as well as bearing down on your pen, this is the best choice.
Please note that those who use fountain pens, all experts point to Clairefontaine as the best in paper quality. It was noted in the sites that I looked through (as I'm not a Fountain Pen user), that almost all fountain pen ink tends not to bleed and no ghosting on Clairefontaine paper.
The Rhodia notebook line also includes Clairefontaine paper, so that's another line of notebook you can look into. The lower end Rhodia, I believe, features Clairefontaine but in 80 weight instead of the heavier 90, so if weight's important to you, make sure you get the Rhodia notebook with the preferred weight. The issue with Rhodia is they didn't have a clothbound A4 French-Ruled notebook, and even more limited colors than the Clairefontaine.
In terms of paper quality, Clairefontaine is the best for me by a large and significant margin.
Paper Thickness
In terms of thickness, I definitely prefer thicker paper as it feels "luxurious", though again, there are people who love the tissue-thin paper, which also is pleasant with the crackling sound it makes. If you want tissue-thin paper, steer clear of these notebooks, as they all are rather hefty in feel.
The irony is that Moleskine paper feels the thickest, even though its the lightest of the 3 at 78g/m2. I wonder if it feels thicker due to the rough nature of the paper?
The next thickest in feel, but in reality, the thickest paper, is the Leuchtturm with impressive weight of 100 in their Master/Master Slim notebook line.
The Clairefontaine feels the thinnest of the three, even though its weighted at an impressive 90. However, it's still very thick and luxurious in feel.
Paper-Style
This is your preference, and I believe all 3 come in blank, lined, dot, grid, and Clairefontaine also comes in French-Ruled. The Clairefontaine French-Ruled is rather dark, so if you want more unobtrusive lines, you may need to rethink the Clairefontaine. I prefer darker-lined paper as it's easier to see.
The French-Ruled actually makes my handwriting neater, and is now my preferred style. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the darkness of the dot, graph and lined versions of the Clairefontaine, but I'm assuming they'd be the same.
The Leuchtturm I got was in the Grid-Style, and the lines are light and unobtrusive. It wasn't as dark as the Clairefontaine, but not too light where I have to squint to see. However, it doesn't make my handwriting neater and more organized like Clairefontaine's French-Ruled paper.
Here's a comparison of my handwriting that shows significantly improved handwriting on Clairefontaine versus Leuchtturm, same exact notes:
Leuchtturm's left page of the spread (i.e., when the notebook is open and lies flat), there's a margin for indentation, which is brilliant. On the right side, there's no left margin, though a right margin. However, since it's Grid-Style, I use one of the boxes to guide my indentation for the right side of the spread. This same concept goes for Clairefontaine.
I got the Moleskine in regular lined paper as this was before my BuJo days. There are no margins, as the lines run across the entire spread.
The Leuchtturm also has Date on top of the left side of the left page, and Date on the right side of the right page, which is NOT preferred, as you'd rather have that blank so you can write whatever heading you want on the top. Hopefully, future Leuchtturm versions will leave out this Date heading. Clairefontaine and Moleskine don't have any headings.
What Leuchtturm does that's very bullet journal friendly is to have the pages all numbered for you, so it's so much easier to index. It also includes pre-made index for the 1st three pages, which is also very welcome and very organized. Both the Clairefontaine and Moleskine don't have this feature.
Amount of Pages
For the A4 variety, Clairefontaine Clothbound has the most at 96 sheets, Leuchtturm Master Slim has 60 sheets (121 numbered pages), Moleskine at 83 sheets. I prefer the Clairefontaine number of sheets.
However, after more time with the Leuchturm Master Slim, 60 pp is more than adequate, and I can see why the BuJo gurus prefer the Master Slim over the rather thick Master version, being lighter and more convenient to carry around. Further, the Master Slim comes in a rather wide variety of fun colors as opposed to the Master.
Presentation
Both the Leuchtturm and the Moleskine Notebooks lay perfectly flat, whereas the Clairefontaine doesn't, and you have to push with some effort to get it to be more flat. Even after pushing down, the Clairefontaine never lays perfectly flat.
The Leuchtturm and Moleskine both have the strap enclosure, whereas the Clairefontaine doesn't.
You can chose the colors of your Leuchtturm or Moleskine Notebooks, but for some reason, Clairefontaine colors will be sent to you randomly, unless you specify colors and the store will try to match your preference if it has excellent customer service. The Clairefontaine comes in less colors than its counterparts. For the A4 Clothbound French-Ruled series, the notebooks come in black, blue, green and red only.
The Leuchtturm and the Moleskine both have a folder section in the back of the notebook where you can put a ruler, business cards, and so forth. The Clairefontaine doesn't.
The Leuchtturm has 2 bookmark ribbons, Moleskine has 1, and the Clairefontaine has none. In other words, the Clairefontaine looks like a normal notebook, just with the best paper quality I've ever used, and in French-Ruled. I really think that the U.S. should adopt French-Ruled paper, as well as the metric system, but we're quite behind in those aspects.
The Leuchtturm's last 8 back pages are perforated. I had to use the last page to tape over my first monthly Calendar I made, since my first attempt was so bad that I would have to white-out the entire page. You can see how much easier it is to redo the monthly calendar on one of the perforated pages and tape over the hideous mistake. This is another way Leuchtturm executes so well. Unfortunately, the Clairefontaine and the Moleskine have no perforated pages.
Additionally, Leuchtturm has stickers to label.
Conclusion
The Leuchtturm is superior to the Moleskine in every category (except having headings on every single page), and costs the same and easily available on Amazon.com, so I recommend the Leuchtturm over the Moleskine. N.C., Esquire (one of my guest writers) is now using the Leuchtturm line of notebooks, Dot-Style, as she likes the esoteric-sounding name of Leuchtturm (it also adds to her pretentiousness).
The key battle here is Clairefontaine vs. Leuchtturm. Looking at the many thoughtful features, it's no wonder that prominent BuJo journalists prefer the Leuchtturm over other notebooks, with all its impressive features and many choices of color.
However, for me, the paper quality of Clairefontaine, with the French-Ruled style that forces my handwriting to be neat and organized, is so superior that I'll be using the Clairefontaine as my Bullet Journal from here on out (that is, after the Leuchtturm is completed).
The Clairefontaine paper is so smooth that writing on it is something I look forward to, as it's a sheer joy to do. It's hard to convey just how wonderful the Clairefontaine paper is, but for me, the paper is so wonderful that it outweighs all the well-engineered features of the Leuchtturm. Indeed, Leuchtturm will corner the BuJo market if it can just use Clairefontaine 90g paper, also coming in French-ruled!
If you only use Fountain Pens and/or only care about quality of paper, the Clairefontaine A4 Clothbound notebook is for you. If you prefer a BuJo friendly notebook that has extremely thoughtful features and comes in many different colors and styles, the Leuchtturm is for you. Further, the Leuchtturm is easily available on Amazon.com.
The Clairefontaine A4 Clothbound French-Ruled notebook is harder to find, but I came upon The Goulet Pen Company who carries them, and they have superb customer service. I bought 4 notebooks and they gave me the colors I wanted, so it appears they do their absolute best to accomodate. They also have very helpful YouTube videos. You only have to see one to get a sense of their expertise in stationary products.
I hope this helps you chose which notebook suits your style the best. Any questions, please reply in the comments section!
I'm going to write down the features of each Notebook, so that you can determine which notebook is for you, and to elaborate on a prior post, Monday Musings 4 (scroll down to the last part).
Some people really love smooth paper, others prefer a paper that has more grip, so I'll list each notebook's features, so you can see which notebook fits your style.
The notebooks I got were all A4 (equivalent to American letter-sized paper). The Clairefontaine was French-Ruled, Leuchtturm was Grid-Style, and the Moleskine was Lined.
Paper quality
I can only comment on ball point pens, and so far, all three notebooks handle ball point extremely well, with no bleed-through, and you can't see the ink on the other side of the paper when held up to light (I believe called ghosting), so it's safe to write on both sides of the paper.
The smoothest is clearly the Clairefontaine, and, for me, it's a joy to write on the paper. Apparently, with this comparison, I was surprised that I prefer extremely smooth paper, as I thought I'd like a more tactile feel for grip.
The next smoothest, with some grip to it, is the Leuchtturm, which is nice, but not something that you quite look forward to writing in like the Clairefontaine's paper.
I found the Moleskine TOO rough and the pen simply doesn't glide, so it's not satisfying to write on this paper, and actually becomes uncomfortable after awhile. I didn't enjoy writing on it, and I felt that I had to bear down on it with my pen. However, if you really like rough feeling and very tactile paper, as well as bearing down on your pen, this is the best choice.
Please note that those who use fountain pens, all experts point to Clairefontaine as the best in paper quality. It was noted in the sites that I looked through (as I'm not a Fountain Pen user), that almost all fountain pen ink tends not to bleed and no ghosting on Clairefontaine paper.
The Rhodia notebook line also includes Clairefontaine paper, so that's another line of notebook you can look into. The lower end Rhodia, I believe, features Clairefontaine but in 80 weight instead of the heavier 90, so if weight's important to you, make sure you get the Rhodia notebook with the preferred weight. The issue with Rhodia is they didn't have a clothbound A4 French-Ruled notebook, and even more limited colors than the Clairefontaine.
In terms of paper quality, Clairefontaine is the best for me by a large and significant margin.
Paper Thickness
In terms of thickness, I definitely prefer thicker paper as it feels "luxurious", though again, there are people who love the tissue-thin paper, which also is pleasant with the crackling sound it makes. If you want tissue-thin paper, steer clear of these notebooks, as they all are rather hefty in feel.
The irony is that Moleskine paper feels the thickest, even though its the lightest of the 3 at 78g/m2. I wonder if it feels thicker due to the rough nature of the paper?
The next thickest in feel, but in reality, the thickest paper, is the Leuchtturm with impressive weight of 100 in their Master/Master Slim notebook line.
The Clairefontaine feels the thinnest of the three, even though its weighted at an impressive 90. However, it's still very thick and luxurious in feel.
Paper-Style
This is your preference, and I believe all 3 come in blank, lined, dot, grid, and Clairefontaine also comes in French-Ruled. The Clairefontaine French-Ruled is rather dark, so if you want more unobtrusive lines, you may need to rethink the Clairefontaine. I prefer darker-lined paper as it's easier to see.
The French-Ruled actually makes my handwriting neater, and is now my preferred style. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the darkness of the dot, graph and lined versions of the Clairefontaine, but I'm assuming they'd be the same.
The Leuchtturm I got was in the Grid-Style, and the lines are light and unobtrusive. It wasn't as dark as the Clairefontaine, but not too light where I have to squint to see. However, it doesn't make my handwriting neater and more organized like Clairefontaine's French-Ruled paper.
Here's a comparison of my handwriting that shows significantly improved handwriting on Clairefontaine versus Leuchtturm, same exact notes:
 |
| Clairefontaine--Neater Handwriting |
 |
| Leuchtturm--Messier Handwriting |
Leuchtturm's left page of the spread (i.e., when the notebook is open and lies flat), there's a margin for indentation, which is brilliant. On the right side, there's no left margin, though a right margin. However, since it's Grid-Style, I use one of the boxes to guide my indentation for the right side of the spread. This same concept goes for Clairefontaine.
I got the Moleskine in regular lined paper as this was before my BuJo days. There are no margins, as the lines run across the entire spread.
The Leuchtturm also has Date on top of the left side of the left page, and Date on the right side of the right page, which is NOT preferred, as you'd rather have that blank so you can write whatever heading you want on the top. Hopefully, future Leuchtturm versions will leave out this Date heading. Clairefontaine and Moleskine don't have any headings.
What Leuchtturm does that's very bullet journal friendly is to have the pages all numbered for you, so it's so much easier to index. It also includes pre-made index for the 1st three pages, which is also very welcome and very organized. Both the Clairefontaine and Moleskine don't have this feature.
Amount of Pages
For the A4 variety, Clairefontaine Clothbound has the most at 96 sheets, Leuchtturm Master Slim has 60 sheets (121 numbered pages), Moleskine at 83 sheets. I prefer the Clairefontaine number of sheets.
However, after more time with the Leuchturm Master Slim, 60 pp is more than adequate, and I can see why the BuJo gurus prefer the Master Slim over the rather thick Master version, being lighter and more convenient to carry around. Further, the Master Slim comes in a rather wide variety of fun colors as opposed to the Master.
Presentation
Both the Leuchtturm and the Moleskine Notebooks lay perfectly flat, whereas the Clairefontaine doesn't, and you have to push with some effort to get it to be more flat. Even after pushing down, the Clairefontaine never lays perfectly flat.
The Leuchtturm and Moleskine both have the strap enclosure, whereas the Clairefontaine doesn't.
You can chose the colors of your Leuchtturm or Moleskine Notebooks, but for some reason, Clairefontaine colors will be sent to you randomly, unless you specify colors and the store will try to match your preference if it has excellent customer service. The Clairefontaine comes in less colors than its counterparts. For the A4 Clothbound French-Ruled series, the notebooks come in black, blue, green and red only.
The Leuchtturm and the Moleskine both have a folder section in the back of the notebook where you can put a ruler, business cards, and so forth. The Clairefontaine doesn't.
The Leuchtturm has 2 bookmark ribbons, Moleskine has 1, and the Clairefontaine has none. In other words, the Clairefontaine looks like a normal notebook, just with the best paper quality I've ever used, and in French-Ruled. I really think that the U.S. should adopt French-Ruled paper, as well as the metric system, but we're quite behind in those aspects.
The Leuchtturm's last 8 back pages are perforated. I had to use the last page to tape over my first monthly Calendar I made, since my first attempt was so bad that I would have to white-out the entire page. You can see how much easier it is to redo the monthly calendar on one of the perforated pages and tape over the hideous mistake. This is another way Leuchtturm executes so well. Unfortunately, the Clairefontaine and the Moleskine have no perforated pages.
Additionally, Leuchtturm has stickers to label.
Conclusion
The Leuchtturm is superior to the Moleskine in every category (except having headings on every single page), and costs the same and easily available on Amazon.com, so I recommend the Leuchtturm over the Moleskine. N.C., Esquire (one of my guest writers) is now using the Leuchtturm line of notebooks, Dot-Style, as she likes the esoteric-sounding name of Leuchtturm (it also adds to her pretentiousness).
The key battle here is Clairefontaine vs. Leuchtturm. Looking at the many thoughtful features, it's no wonder that prominent BuJo journalists prefer the Leuchtturm over other notebooks, with all its impressive features and many choices of color.
However, for me, the paper quality of Clairefontaine, with the French-Ruled style that forces my handwriting to be neat and organized, is so superior that I'll be using the Clairefontaine as my Bullet Journal from here on out (that is, after the Leuchtturm is completed).
The Clairefontaine paper is so smooth that writing on it is something I look forward to, as it's a sheer joy to do. It's hard to convey just how wonderful the Clairefontaine paper is, but for me, the paper is so wonderful that it outweighs all the well-engineered features of the Leuchtturm. Indeed, Leuchtturm will corner the BuJo market if it can just use Clairefontaine 90g paper, also coming in French-ruled!
If you only use Fountain Pens and/or only care about quality of paper, the Clairefontaine A4 Clothbound notebook is for you. If you prefer a BuJo friendly notebook that has extremely thoughtful features and comes in many different colors and styles, the Leuchtturm is for you. Further, the Leuchtturm is easily available on Amazon.com.
The Clairefontaine A4 Clothbound French-Ruled notebook is harder to find, but I came upon The Goulet Pen Company who carries them, and they have superb customer service. I bought 4 notebooks and they gave me the colors I wanted, so it appears they do their absolute best to accomodate. They also have very helpful YouTube videos. You only have to see one to get a sense of their expertise in stationary products.
I hope this helps you chose which notebook suits your style the best. Any questions, please reply in the comments section!
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