A number of the blogs to which I subscribe have often extolled the virtues of Rhodia note pads. Up until now, it was not a brand that I used but recently saw a good deal that made me venture down the Rhodia path.
As you can see below, the set comprised of 2 pencils, 2 – A5 No 16 blocks, 2 No. 08 blocks (7.4 x 21.0 cm) and 2 – No. 11 Blocks (7.4 x 10.5 cm). All had 80gm high grade vellum graph paper. Normally, I would go for plain paper but at the price I paid, I was not complaining! As you can see they all came in Rhodia’s familiar gold trademark covers.
The 2 pencils were not graded but I suspect they would be B as they were somewhat darker than HB (No.2). Triangular in shape, they are really comfortable to hold and providing the chance to have a form grip. They wrote smoothly and using the eraser located at the end left very little debris on the paper so from my perspective the eraser was not too soft.
The quality of the paper is excellent having a good smooth face that did not show damage when the eraser was used. Using a Pilot G2 rollerball pen left a sooth line with no ‘feathering’ of the edges and there was no bleed through the page.
I then tried the new Uniball Fanthom erasable rollerball and achieved the same result. Again, there was  very little break up of the paper when using the eraser. It is quite clear that this is paper of the highest standard and writing glides over the paper leaving a very crisp presentation (perhaps better than my writing deserves!)
My final test was with a recent acquisition of a Pilot Capless fountain pen that I will talk about another time when it has had some solid use. I used some Rohrer and Klingner Verdura ink. Now I normally take the view that green ink is for crank letter writers but have been doing some reconciliation, so it’s a good colour to use. The result was first class in my opinion. No bleed at all and the colour, already a vibrant one did not lose its depth of colour at all.
What will I use the pads for? The smallest sits nicely in my pocket for the jotting down phone numbers, email addresses etc and the long narrow versions have been ‘stolen’ by my wife for her endless lists! The A5 is being hidden in my briefcase and it is perfect for meeting notes and so on. Overall, I am really pleased with the purchase and my Rhodia library will undoubtedly expand over the coming months.
