Moleskine Classic Hardcover

Moleskine Classic Notebook

Moleskine claims a long and storied history, naming such creatives par excellence as Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso and Vincent van Gogh amongst their users. As a modern brand, Moleskine was founded in 1997 and immediately became a cult hit. Their offerings now include bags, books, travel and digital device accessories and writing tools as well as the classic notebook.

Quick Stats

Brand: Moleskine
Model: Classic Hardcover Large
Sizes:

  • Extra-small (A7)
  • Pocket (A6-B7)
  • Extra-large (B5)
  • A4 (Professional range)
  • A3 (Folio Art range)

Page styles:

  • 5mm dot grid
  • 5mm squared grid
  • Ruled
  • Blank
  • Specialty

RRP: AUD $34.95
Origin: Italian design, made in China
Features:

  • Elastic closure
  • Page marker ribbon
  • Inner pocket (back cover)
  • Unique ID number
  • Title page for contact info

Colours:

  • Black
  • White
  • Oxide green
  • Orange
  • Red
  • Magenta
  • Sapphire blue
  • Willow green
  • Citron yellow
  • Violet
  • Yellow
  • Limited editions

Pages: 240 pages, rounded corners
Cost per page: 15c per page
Cover type: Hard leather-look
Dimensions: A5 size (210mm x 133mm x 15mm)
Binding/lay flat: Thread-bound, lays mostly flat
Environmental footprint: According to Moleskine Srl: environmentally-friendly acid-free paper. Their website states that they create and sell FSC-certified products, but in a really ambiguous way that makes one wonder which of their products this applies to.

The Paper

  • 240 pages of 70gsm cream paper vellum.
  • 5mm dot grid in grey. 40 cells vertically, 24 cells horizontally.
  • Quite smooth, feels really nice to write on with a rollerball.
  • A fair bit ghosting; heavy pens show through horribly but even lighter, finer pens do as well. (The page here has been imaged on a flatbed scanner, which exaggerates the amount of show-through).
  • Very, very slight ink feathering with fountain pens on some pages, massive ink feathering on others. Consistency seems to vary from notebook to notebook.
Moleskine Classic Notebook
Click to enlarge