Where to buy good paper at decent price in Britain?

Cristobal

Cristobal

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Since I've received my fountain pen I can't stop writing on my Rhodia notepad brought from France; so that I'll need to restock soon. However, once the Rhodia products cross the Channel, their price double up, it's crazy...

I'm looking for some kind of cheaper local replacement made of the same quality paper (80g/m2 papier surfin), but it's somehow impossible to find something matching either in supermarkets/shops (Asda, Wilko) or stationeries. In France, we have some Rhodia copies made for supermarket chains that are as good as the originals (paper come probably from the same factories) sold at ridiculous prices.

I found some refill pads (WHSmith, Silvine) but paper is not as smooth as Rhodia's. As a pupil in the 80s I used some Oxford exercise books that were as good as the local Clairefontaine's (Clairefontaine is the top) and were slightly cheaper in addition. So there must be some local British brands.

Where to buy some notepads with this smooth paper (like the Rhodia's) online or London? At a decent price?

Of course, my ultimate solution is to go to some posh Londoner stationery in some posh borough and pay at least 3 times the normal price...:D
 
Strangely, the best paper I've found is Oxford "Black 'n' Red" found at Tesco, though I'm yet to try a Rhodia Dotpad so cannot compare directly. Used to find it for £2.50 per spiral-bound A5 book (pricing error) but price has jumped to around a fiver per 140-page book. Can be found on Amazon for £4.35 as an add-on or a pack of 5 for £22.50. I've never seen it bleed through a page, and I think it's 90gsm rather than 80 that you're looking at. I have a feeling it's the same as other Oxford notepads with their 'optik-paper' but I've not tried to find out.

Edit: I've just found it cheaper again on Amazon, eligible for prime delivery. > HERE <
 
chris.hale said:
https://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk
https://www.cultpens.com

The writing desk is slightly cheaper for the A5 Rhodia dot pad. Both are excellent shops and are my go-to for things stationery.
Click to expand...
+1 for Cult Pens. They went above and beyond to get me an EF Faber-Castell Loom. I stupidly dropped the thing and sharted the nib so looks like I'll need to get a new one. Replaced with a Bock EF from beaufortink but not the same...

On a tangent, the nib on the lower-end FC pens are the same as the higher-end ones - i.e. immense quality right out of the box.
 
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chris.hale said:
https://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk
https://www.cultpens.com

The writing desk is slightly cheaper for the A5 Rhodia dot pad. Both are excellent shops and are my go-to for things stationery.
Click to expand...

I second both of those - excellent stores. Bureau (https://www.bureaudirect.co.uk/) are also good for notebooks, but tend not to be cheap. it's also worth hunting around amazon.fr - a lot of stuff ships to the UK and prices can be very different to the uk site. Chrome will translate (mostly).
 
Benz3ne said:
Strangely, the best paper I've found is Oxford "Black 'n' Red" found at Tesco, though I'm yet to try a Rhodia Dotpad so cannot compare directly. Used to find it for £2.50 per spiral-bound A5 book (pricing error) but price has jumped to around a fiver per 140-page book. Can be found on Amazon for £4.35 as an add-on or a pack of 5 for £22.50. I've never seen it bleed through a page, and I think it's 90gsm rather than 80 that you're looking at. I have a feeling it's the same as other Oxford notepads with their 'optik-paper' but I've not tried to find out.
Click to expand...

I agree, give Oxford a try when you see it again.

I use Oxford notepads at work and home for 90% of my writing. The Optik paper is 90gsm and in my opinion is superior to Rhodia paper, and to some degree Clairefontaine (same company, slightly different paper). Tastes differ on this matter; the Rhodia coating is smoother but this has downsides in that ink takes longer to dry, smears more easily and I think the slightly aquaphobic nature encourages skipping and makes the line from a fountain pen appear finer than it is on most others. Oxford surprisingly also offers better shading and sheen with some inks if that's your thing. No show-through or feathering with any typical ink.

It's the same paper in Black'n'Red now, wasn't always though; older Black'n'Red's I had were like Pukka Pads or bog roll, similar absorbency. I get mine at Ryman or a supermarket around September when the 'back-to-school' offers are on. Amazon is about the next best. Only downside with Oxford to my mind is that it's not really correspondence stationary. Unless you get the bound books it's all pre punched, ruled with margin. Un-ruled without margin is available too but difficult to find and still hole-punched.

The problem with expensive paper really bites when you start to get hooked on Japanese stationary. :eek:
 
Gasquolet said:
I use Oxford notepads at work and home for 90% of my writing. The Optik paper is 90gsm and in my opinion is superior to Rhodia paper, and to some degree Clairefontaine (same company, slightly different paper). Tastes differ on this matter; the Rhodia coating is smoother but this has downsides in that ink takes longer to dry, smears more easily and I think the slightly aquaphobic nature encourages skipping and makes the line from a fountain pen appear finer than it is on most others.
Click to expand...

That's odd, I found Rhodia and Oxford Optik to be the other way round with the Optik being more aquaphobic. It is a few years since I tried any though so maybe they've changed it.
 
The "R" range of Rhodia is 90 gsm, so quite above their common range, close to Clairefontaine's.

In France, we have had for years Rhodia-like Oxford notepads which are pretty good; oddly enough their range seems to be much wider in France than in Britain (I havn't seen this kind of Oxford notepad here )... Maybe it is to be able to compete with the local brands.


bloc-notes-a4-seyes-80-feuilles-orange.jpg
 
Rhodia R is nice. A friend writes to me on it,

An Oxford seyes pad! Head stapled too, must be for the local market as you say. I've not seen that before. Some of my Oxford notebooks are marked Made in EU and others Made in Germany. Hamelin, who own the Oxford brand talk prominently of their EU wide interests in their promotional material, even if their HQ is in England (at the moment).
 
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