Towering Ambition

The French sculptors who first brought us Art Deco intended to beautify our every-day existence, for example by improving furniture, but before long Americans had adapted the style to build sky-scrapers. Plus ça change, eh?

It's a very adaptable style, though, and sooner or later someone was bound to apply it to notebook covers. Naturally enough, France has already bagged first place, Clairefontaine's Art Deco collection being pretty much the epitome of a classy notebook with excellent paper, but there's room for a bit of competition nevertheless - and who better to try than Pebble?

This A5 notebook certainly looks the part, with an expensive-looking cover reminiscent of the sort of extravagant wallpaper which gets superficial statesmen into trouble. The sewn binding isn't just aesthetically pleasing, either, but we'll come on to that in a moment.

When it comes to USPs, this has what will be a biggy for some fountain pen users; a whole load of Tomoe River paper. Now, it's worth being up-front that this isn't necessarily for everyone; it's ultra-thin and ink takes ages to dry upon it, so if you're a heavy-handed scribbler in a hurry to make copious notes this might not be the one. But the sewn binding does go some way to reducing the paper's tendency to wriggle, which is a big help, and the dots aren't too intrusive either. If you're practising calligraphy while staying in hotels, or perhaps keeping a page-a-day reflective diary with exotic sheening inks, it could be just the ticket.