BOOKBLOCK: WESKIN

I’ve been blessed in receiving a number of beautifully made notebooks from Bookblock recently, and it was no different when I received their newest edition in the mail: The Weskin Notebooks.

These notebooks are intricately styled to give you that vintage-Jane-Austen feel. Cloth bound, semi-flexible, gold-trimmed page edges, and cream coloured ruled pages are available in each Weskin notebook, and come in either the navy blue, yellow or black.

Here's a little backstory on the company and their newest notebook creation:

Bookblock has been customising and manufacturing products since 2013, creating the highest quality notebooks, stationery and leather products. With this knowledge and experience, Bookblock have developed and created their own range of beautiful stationery products. To coincide with the launch of their retail site this summer, Bookblock will launch the Weskin: their flagship product.

The Weskin is the perfect companion to your working day. A cloth bound, gilt edged A5 notebook that pairs timeless classic design with a contemporary finish, and like all of Bookblock’s products, is proudly made in Europe. The Weskin notebook is available in classic navy blue, contemporary yellow or muted grey, accompanied by a perfectly applied gilt edge and geometric lining inside. Subtle details come in the selection of a double grosgrain ribbon and distinct Bookblock gold foiled logo on the reverse. A superb choice for any aspiring creatives and professionals alike.

Here are a few features regarding the notebooks:
1- LAYS FLAT: Keeping your notebook flat is often an annoying and impossible task, the Weskin solves this problem with its perfectly flat lying spine, staying flush to your desk without constantly pushing back into a closed position. What could make writing easier and more enjoyable than this - using a notebook that enables full use of the page; ergonomic design that is as slick as it is practical

2- SEMI-FLEX: True to Bookblock’s standards in manufacturing, they have tested and developed a design that has made a perfect link between a flexible, soft cover notebook and a hard bound notebook: the semi flex. Keeping it light and soft, the semi flex cover creates a movable feel without interrupting the quality or finish in transit.

3- DURABLE TEXTURED CLOTH: Bookblock’s contemporary aesthetic and understanding
meant they were able to source the best quality cloth to cover the Weskin with. It’s quality and feel is like no other, a truly outstanding material that keeps its durability throughout your working day.

4- GILT EDGING: Gilt edging is the process of applying colour to the very edge of your notebook’s pages. Adding a touch of gold, with it’s premium guilt edge, the Weskin sets itself apart from any other notebook with this sophisticated, classic detail.

5- DOUBLE RIBBON: Bookblock love detail that is useful: the double grosgrain ribbon in two colours is elegant and practical to keep hold of useful pages within your Weskin.

Now, of course all these features are nice and makes these notebooks look absolutely delicious, but how do they hold up in terms of paper quality and usage? My answer: superbly.

I did a little trial page test for a number of different types of pens and the outcome is surprising. Being a predominantly fountain pen user, I like to test these pens first on any notebook I acquire. Writing on these Weskin pages are as smooth as butter. It held up well to my Extra Fine Lamy Fountain pens (filled with De Atramentis Documenter ink) with minimal show through on the other side. There was no problem when trialling the paper with regular ballpoint pens, and 0.38 Muji gel pens, as expected. Overall, it's a nice notebook to write in, and with the cream coloured pages, the Weskin notebook does end up being quite aesthetically pleasing.

The Weskin notebooks will launch in Summer 2017 and will be available from the Bookblock shop, retailing at £15. International delivery and wholesale orders are available at www.bookblock.com/shop