Piccadilly Leatherlook Journal
2009/03/10Piccadilly, Inc. sent a second item for review, the Leatherlook Journal. There’s a lot to like especially for the price so let’s see what sets this journal apart from the competition.
Piccadilly Leatherlook Journal
The look is functional but classic with contrasting stitching for accent. The leather free cover feels good in the hand and seems to wear well. It isn’t stiff but bends slightly though not enough to prevent it being useful for lap writing. It is book bound with a satin page ribbon and has 200 pages, lined on the right and blank on the left. The paper is very heavy at 100 GSM and is wood free. The specs call it cream but the paper looks slightly green in good lighting. The pale gray lines are spaced 7mm apart which should work well for most writers. At $5.99 for the small and $7.99 for the medium size journal, the Leatherlook will fit most budgets.
So those are the specs but performance counts and this entry from Piccadilly actually surprised me. The paper bears a resemblance to the Apica 6A10 paper though not quite as absorbent. Most inks tested feathered but hardly enough to be of concern. The worst were inks most likely to feather on any paper so while not ideal, it’s within acceptable limits.
Due to the weight of the paper, there is virtually no show-through except with the heaviest deposits of ink and no bleed-through except tiny dots again with very dark ink from rather wet nibs. This means that the blank pages are entirely useful. If you are so inclined, you can draw on one side and write text on the facing, lined side. This opens up a world of possibilities whether for diagrams, drawings, or anything you might attach to one side and write about on the other.
Take a look at the ink tests and note the nibs and pens used. For now I only have the pair of 1.1mm italics at the wider end of the scale and they performed well enough. I suspect a wet medium or broad nib might display the usual ills but I lack a proper test pen for that range. Certainly a dry-writing fine to extra-fine nib will do the job nicely and mediums likely will, too. The format, weight of the paper, and quality are strong selling points. This is one sample journal that won’t go to waste.
Piccadilly Leatherlook Journal Ink Test
Piccadilly Leatherlook Journal Closeup
Excellent review! I appreciate the closeup photo – the various inks did very well on the paper. I’ve been using Moleskines and have a Quo Vadis Habana ready to use, but I need to try a Picadilly, especially at those prices.
Nice review!
Thanks for the review. I didn’t know they came in those great colors. Now on to the hunt to add them to my collection.
[...] Design Inspiration placed an interesting blog post on Piccadilly Leatherlook JournalHere’s a brief overviewThe leather free cover feels good in the hand … at the ink tests and note the nibs and pens used. … This is one sample journal that won’t [...]
Great site this inkophile.wordpress.com and I am really pleased to see you have what I am actually looking for here and this this post is exactly what I am interested in. I shall be pleased to become a regular visitor
Psst – the prices went up. $7.50 for small & $9 for large.
Thanks for the tip. For some folks that will ruin a good thing. Others won’t care. Be interesting to see whether the price increase holds.
Great review! Do we know yet if the lines will continue single side only, or include double sided like Biffybeans experienced?
I’d love a follow up review showing how it held up to regular usage.
Thanks for the close ups with multiple inks and for providing a review with broad nibbed pens like the ones I use.
No new information on the lines in the Piccadilly Journal. I only have the one on which my review was based.
There are piles of other journals here to review so I rarely fill one anymore. Not a bad thing but it does limit the amount of use each journal gets. A follow-up review is a good idea though and might be in order for several journals some day.
Live and learn. It has been a lot of fun getting acquainted with broad nibbed pens. In fact I’m looking for a high quality gold stub to expand my test capabilities. Most inks work well with fine nibs but some either flow too freely or feather more in a broad nib. So it makes sense to include stubs and italics here and there. Glad you’ve found it helpful.