Leather Archives - BLAKE'S BROADCAST

Midori World Meister’s Note Vol. 3 “Grain” Memo Book Review

April 23, 2014 by Blake

World Meister’s Note is a collection from Midori that involves fusion of Japanese craft with other countries craft. I have previously reviewed Vol. 1 “Dainel” and I liked it quite a bit.

I skipped Vol. 2 for the time being as it has been hard to locate one from a US seller. Hopefully when I go to Japan later this week I will be able to pick one up.

Vol. 3 is called Grain and “employs recycled leather meticulously manufactured by workshops in Valencia, Spain.” The memo book measures 5″ x 3″ x .5″ not including the spiral which adds a quarter inch in length and depth.

The memo book features 50 sheets (100 pages) white lined MD paper and 50 sheets of cream blank MD paper. There is also a double elastic band that keeps the book shut.

It’s a beautiful little book. The black leather looks great with the brown elastic and the copper colored double spirals.

The black recycled leather cover is stiff like a regular plastic memo book color but it has a nice leather grain and smell.

As I have mentioned in previous posts Midori’s MD paper is one of my favorites. It holds fountain pen ink very well. The lined pages have a brown dotted rule were every fifth line is solid. Also the front of each sheet of lined paper has the “MIDORI” printed at the bottom.

I had to abuse the paper to make it bleed. Almost no ghosting.

More apparent ghosting on the cream colored paper but no bleed even with abuse.

The Grain memo book is too large and bulky for my pants pocket. It will fit but it’s not comfortable. 100 sheets of paper make the memo book quite fat and inflexible.

$7.75 is high for a little memo book but the leather cover and 100 sheets of MD make the entry price worth while. The Grain is a great looking, beautifully made memo book. If it was a bit less bulky it would be my new memo book of choice but for now I am sticking with the Maruman Mnemosyne memo book (N193).

Here is a great review of the Midori “Grain” Memo Book:

(I have no affiliation with the site linked below)

Vertical Paper – Midori World Meister Vol. 3 Grain Memo Notepad — Review

Cartier Cabochon Desk Diary Review

December 23, 2013 by Blake

A few years ago I received this beautiful Cartier Desk diary as a gift. It is appropriately called a desk diary as it is quite large at 10″ x 7.5 “. The leather cover and thick pages also make it quite heavy. Let’s start with the design; the cover features black leather calfskin with the double “C” Cartier logo embossed on the front cover. Also on the front cover are two stainless steel corners for added durability. On the inside is an attractive burgundy colored calfskin with two pockets to hold the diary refill and an address book. There is also a nice leather page marker with a stainless double “C” Cartier charm. Overall it has a very nice and clean masculine look to it.

The agenda refills feature seven days on two pages organized by lines for each half hour starting at 8am and ending at 9pm. The weekends share a single column and get one line per hour. This layout wont be that useful for everyone. As someone that charges my clients by the hour, I used it to keep track of my time spent rather than as a pure appointment book.

Color map of the world...well most of it anyway. — Color map of the world…well most of it anyway

Cartier also lists these additional features (I put the most amusing ones in bold): “calendar of international holidays, world map and map of the European continent, flight times and time zones, area codes, useful telephone numbers, conversion tables, clothing and shoe sizes, gold and the most beautiful stones in the world, ratings for vintages, wedding anniversaries, addresses of Cartier boutiques.” One of the things not listed is a country guide which has up to date information on 35 different countries: population size, the capital city, airport info, currency, and electrical information.

Cartier Cabochon desk diary — A diary wouldn’t be complete without an entire page on gold and an entire page on precious gems right?

Wine vintages guide and country guide. — Useful phone numbers and Country guide

The cream colored pages are very thick and feature a gilded edge. The paper deals with fountain pen ink well and has perforated bottom corners with the double “C” Cartier logo that allow you to quickly jump to the current week. One thing that I really don’t like about this diary is the inability for the refill to relax and lie flat (even with daily use). I have to use a book weight to keep the darn thing open.

Very little ghosting a bleed through. — Very little ghosting and no bleed through

Cariter Cabochon Desk Diary — Perforated page corners

Each year there is a different work of art featured on the first page of the refill and on the back page there is a little bio of the artist, for 2013, the artist was Patrick Vilaire. The outside of the diary refill is burgundy, the same burgundy as the leather on the inside of the cover. In prior years this has been black but it looks like 2014 is burgundy again. You get a seperate address book with each refill.

For some years the picture is in color. Guess they needed to save money this...recession and what not. — In previous years the picture was color. I guess they needed to save money this year…recession and what not.

Spine of the refill. — Spine of the refill

Address book. — Back of dairy refill and address book cover

New, the cover with agenda refill is $660, which isn’t terrible, but what is terrible is the price of the refills. The 2012 refill cost me $60, the 2013 refill (which you see here) cost me $90 and the 2014 refill, which I have been simply priced out of, is $155!!! I have called and asked Cartier why these have gone up so much and they have no explanation…the refill is essentially unchanged yet worth $65 more. While I have really enjoyed using this diary the real killer for me has become the price of the refill; I will need to find a notebook that I can use this lovely cover with.

Pelikan Fine Leather Black Triple Pen Pouch Review

December 17, 2013 by Blake

Up until now I have been carrying my larger and more expensive pens in single pen pouches. I would carry two to three pouches at a time which was cumbersome; I finally broke down and bought a Pelikan 3 pen pouch. I have been using a Pelikan Fine Leather Black Triple Pen Pouch every day for about a month now and I quite like it. I spent a good amount of time looking for a quality case that really protects pens. I had originally wanted a Montblanc pen pouch but after looking at it, I knew that it wasn’t right. The main issue I found with the Montblanc case (apart from the $180 price tag) was the fact that the dividers stopped about halfway down the case; this in my opinion is a design flaw that would allow the bottom of the pens to knock into each other. So after doing a bit more research I found that the Pelikan case would accommodate larger pens and had dividers that run the length of the case.

The Pelikan pouch is made out of a soft leather (softer than the Montblanc case) and comes in black with a green strap or black with a black strap. Each case has the Pelikan logo embossed on the strap. The leather is of good quality, however, it is not as nice as the leather Montblanc uses but for $35 the Pelikan case is of excellent quality. I don’t know where the case is made but I cannot find any flaws in its construction; every thing is cleanly cut and sewn. It’s clear that this case was carefully made. The interior of the flap is leather and the inside of the case seems to be some sort of felt sort of felt.

Top to bottom: OMAS Ogiva, Montblanc 149, Aurora Optima

Compared to the Montblanc case pens do fit a bit more snugly. I can easily fit my Montblanc 149, 146, and Aurora Optima into the case but it is a tight fit. If you want to fit three 149s the Pelikan case is not for you. Also the top of the pens that the flap covers are not protected much on the side. I carry my case in a backpack or briefcase without issue.

When the case has more normal sized pens in it the flap comes down further.

Overall I am really satisfied with this case and highly recommend it.