New Arrivals: Clairefontaine Looseleaf Sheets Are Back, in both Individual Sheets and Booklets

Two years ago we brought in an old favorite: Clairefontaine French-ruled paper in looseleaf individual sheets and booklets. This particular product holds a special place in my heart - especially the double booklets - because it was the first fountain pen-friendly stationery product from my time abroad that I “smuggled” back into the country and hoarded because you could rarely find it in the U.S. These days, “Seyes” paper is somewhat more widely available but still unusual, so I’ve tried to keep it in stock when I can. We recently procured another large supply in both A4 and A5 formats, with A4 available in both formats and A5 (17 x 22cm) available in the single sheets.

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You can read more on why I love this particular ruling here, but needless to say I rotate it through most of my notebooks and use it for a variety of notetaking, drafting, and letter-writing projects. I’ve tried to curate the shop in a way that we can offer French-ruled paper in all available formats. A few notes on the individual sheets:

• A4 paper comes in packs of 50, 100, and 200-count sheets. Individual sheets are hole-punched for various three-ring binder layouts. The double-sheet booklets are not pre-punched.

• A5 paper comes in packs of 50 and 100 sheets. As those familiar with Clairefontaine French-ruled notebooks know, the “Seyes” ruling is slightly larger than traditional A5, at 17 x 22cm. That said, it’s fairly easy to trim to fit A5 binders from Plotter, William Hannah, Levenger Circa, Staples Arc, etc., if that’s what you’re looking for.

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Clairefontaine “A5” has odd dimensions. You can find double-punched notebooks that fit the paper as-is, if that’s your thing, but they are uncommon in the U.S. Most people I know use the A5 paper for letter-writing or notetaking, or they trim down the margins, which is easy to do. (See below.)

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I used the Plotter blue sheet as a guide and trimmed these by hand with scissors because I’m snowed in and don’t have access to my office paper cutter. Trimming the top and left margins leaves a perfectly proportionate A5-sized Plotter refill!

Clairefontaine looseleaf paper is priced anywhere from $6.50 to $21.50 per pack, depending on size and quantity. The T.G.S. Curated Shop has additional formats available, including spiral, staple, and clothbound notebooks. Feel free to reach out with any questions!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized reseller of Clairefontaine products.

Stock Update: Clairefontaine French-Ruled Paper Went Fast

Just a short note here for those of you hoping to land some of the Clairefontaine French-ruled looseleaf paper: I’ve sold through a huge chunk of my shipment over the last three days! The reaction to this particular product has been bigger than anything I’ve ever tried to do before in the shop, and I’m going to order more of it immediately. The problem is, since it’s an import product, it will likely take a while. As of now, we are completely sold out of the A4 single sheets, and very low on both A5 single sheets and the 100-packs of A4 booklets. If you were looking to get your hands on some, don’t sleep on it.

You can check out our entire offerings of Clairefontaine products here. Note that we’ve also recently added lined wirebound notebooks in the A5 size.

By shopping with us directly, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

The Paper Product That Started It All! French-Ruled Looseleaf Sheets and Booklets Are Finally Here

Yes, as you might have guessed, it’s Clairefontaine French-Ruled (Seyes-ruled) paper, but not in notebook form. I finally managed to source looseleaf sheets of this paper in both A4 and A5 size, taking me back to when I could travel freely and schlepped suitcases full of this paper back from France because I couldn’t find a reliable source that stocked it in the U.S. You can read more about my love affair with French-ruled paper here, including how I first discovered it and why I like using it so much.

As part of my initial order - which had to be imported as part of a special order through Exaclair, Clairefontaine’s U.S. distributor - I managed to get my hands on single sheets in both A5 and A4 size, as well as the coveted Clairefontaine booklet-style A4 double sheets, which combine four pages of writing into a versatile format that I love to use to make flowcharts, outline oral arguments for my legal practice, draft longer documents, and more. I’ve been down to my last pack and have been using them only sparingly. (If nobody buys any, at least I’ll have a personal lifetime supply! For a stationery addict, there is nothing more satisfying that looking at a warehouse full of hundreds of packs of high-end paper. but I digress.)

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Availability and Pricing Information

Ok, so I bought a LOT of this paper. Feel free to stock up. When I’ve had it readily available, this has served as my default looseleaf paper for most of my writing, and I used to burn through packs of it regularly. I personally can’t wait to get this back in my rotation, and I’m working on a large work project right now that’s going to be the perfect use-case for these double booklets. If this sells well, there are other formats and options I can stock, including colors such as pink and blue, but I started relatively small since an import order requires me to purchase large quantities, and this is still very much an experiment.

As of this morning, looseleaf French-ruled paper is live and available for purchase in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. One of the reasons I love Clairefontaine paper is that it’s relatively inexpensive for how good it is. The single sheets are priced at $6.50 for a pack of 100 A5 sheets, and $9.50 for 100 A4 sheets. The double sheets (or booklets), are priced at $6.50 for 50 sheets, and $10 for 100. Finally, a note on shipping - I know it’s expensive relative to the price of a single pack, but paper is heavy and nearly always needs to go USPS Priority or UPS. From a value perspective, it’s probably best to purchase 2-3 packs of this to make up for the shipping charge, or to do a couple of major stock-up purchases per year and hit the free shipping threshold, currently set at $75.

By shopping with us directly, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program, which offers access to online meetups, exclusive discounts and pre-orders, and more!

Restock Tuesday! Clairefontaine French-Ruled Paper, Washi Tape, and Enamel Pins!

Yesterday I received a fresh shipment of Clairefontaine French-ruled paper, which should be a relief for those of you who have been asking for a restock. I currently have Clothbound, Stablebound, and Wirebound notebooks all ready to ship, in addition to more Quo Vadis Habanas, which feature Clairefontaine dot grid paper. I’m also happy to introduce a new round of select washi tapes from iLootPaperie, as well as a new snail mail-themed enamel pin that you can proudly wear to show your love for written correspondence and the postal service! Finally, I’ve brought back the best-selling “science matters” enamel pins. Happy Shopping!

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The A5 Clothbound Notebook might be my favorite Clairefontaine item that I carry.

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There are some gems in this latest washi restock!

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Science Matters!

The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all products sold.

Notebook Review: Clairefontaine French-Ruled A5 Spiral Bound Notebook

One question readers always ask revolves around this paper, which makes semi-regular appearances on The Gentleman Stationer. For the record, it’s Clairefontaine “French-ruled”, sometimes referred to as “Seyes-ruled,” which is used in the French school system to teach handwriting. The dark blue horizontal lines are supposed to be used like the ruling on regular ruled notebook paper, with the lighter horizontal lines and vertical "grid" intended to maintain consistent height and spacing of your letters. The Wonderpens blog has a great article on how to use Seyes paper as it was traditionally intended. 

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Blank French/Seyes Ruling

Personally, I like this paper because it can be used like graph or dot grid paper. You can use the bold lines to write fairly large, or you can use the smaller lines for writing small. It’s highly versatile, plus it looks cool.

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A sample of how I tend to use this paper. Note that my handwriting is not at all consistent.

That’s not the main reason I use this paper, however. On the whole, graph and dot grid paper are probably more practical. I enjoy breaking out the Clairefontaine French-ruled paper every once in a while because it reminds me of when I was living in France during college, and I first started to really enjoy fine stationery and writing supplies. This paper was everywhere, and it was, by far, the best writing paper I had ever used. After that, when I could find it, I’ve always kept a steady supply on hand, even if it meant carting back overweight suitcases stuffed full of notebooks from Europe.

A Clairefontaine A5 Spiral Bound Notebook compared to the A4 Spiral Bound Notebook. As far as spirals go, Clairefontaine's are extremely sturdy, and the covers hold up fairly well. The one on the bottom is at least 5 years old, and contains most of the early pen reviews from this blog.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

Clairefontaine makes some of the best paper you can buy for fountain pens, and it works great with other wet writers such as rollerballs that tend to bleed through thinner paper. The main drawback to Clairefontaine paper is that it’s coated and non-absorbent, so the dry time can be somewhat long. I’ve found this issue to be most pronounced with highly saturated inks that contain lots of dye, as well as lubricated inks such as the Noodler’s “Eel” series. Inks such as these can still smear days later, though you’ll have the same problem on other non-absorbent papers such as Rhodia or Tomoe River.

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Clairefontaine paper is available in a variety of sizes, including writing pads, spiral bound notebooks, top-bound notebooks, and even looseleaf paper. The notebooks and writing pads are the easiest to find in the U.S. (The pack of "looseleaf" paper pictured here, which contains 200 sheets folded into two-page booklets, was carted back from Europe.) My personal favorites are the Side Wirebound A5 Notebook and the Side Clothbound Notebook, the latter of which tends to sell out in A5 but is also available in the larger A4. 

Clairefontaine makes Seyes-ruled paper in a wide variety of formats, with prices generally ranging from $3-$15 per notebook, making Clairefontaine fairly economical for high-end paper. The combination of price and quality makes it a go-to recommendation for both new and experienced fountain pen users looking to improve the quality of their everyday writing paper.   

UPDATE: This post has been updated to reflect that I now carry Clairefontaine Paper in the T.G.S. Curated Shop. The Gentleman Stationer is an authorized retailer of Clairefontaine products.