Notebook Review: Endless Stationery Recorder Notebook Deep Ocean with 80gsm Regalia Paper

Endless Stationery Recorder Notebook Deep Ocean with 80gsm Regalia paper.

I'm back! It's been six months since my last blog review. It's been a hectic, toxic, and trying period that has kept me from using and enjoying my fountain pens. I still have several fountain pens, ink, and paper products waiting to be reviewed. Last April, I said I'll rest for a month. But May came, then June, and before I knew it, it was already September. I wanted to go back to writing about pens and ink and paper. I really wanted to. But work got me. Health issues got me. And I got stuck waiting for that golden moment when inspiration strikes, and I could go on spilling words like there's no tomorrow. I kept asking myself, could I still do it? I wasn't sure, and that surprised and scared me. But last Friday, while I chatted with a friend, she reminded me of going back to my gift, and so here I am, writing and happily spilling words again on Regalia paper in my Recorder notebook that my friend Kailash Ramchandani of PenGrafik sent over to me to review. Regalia is a special proprietary paper created by our awesome friends at Endless Stationery in Madras, India.

The new Recorder Notebook from Endless Stationery, the world's most ink-friendly notebook. The leatherette cover looks professional, classy, and elegant.

The Recorder Notebook is not new to me. In August 2020, Endless Works sent me my first Recorder Notebook to review. It was a thrill writing on the Recorder's 68gsm Tomoe River paper. It's an elegant black notebook with a black leatherette cover and I used it for note-taking, writing ideas for my blog, and doodling colorful art. But the thin TR paper sometimes bothered me, so this new Recorder Notebook with the brand new 80gsm acid-free Regalia paper is perfect!

The Recorder Notebook is made to be the world's most ink-friendly notebook. Available in A5 size (8.3 × 5.6 inches), the new Recorder Notebook has 187 numbered pages of 80gsm acid-free proprietary and ink-loving Regalia paper suitable for fountain pens, inks, micron, and sketch pens. The in-house thicker Regalia paper has a zero-tolerance policy towards bleeding, ghosting, and feathering so we all get the smoothest writing experience. The acid-free Regalia paper also ensures the notebook's contents will last a long time. 

I received the Deep Ocean dotted Recorder and the dark blue leatherette cover looks professional, classy, and elegant. It has a blank Table of Contents that one can easily fill out so it's easy to keep track of notes and ideas inside the notebook. The two page markers in dark blue and turquoise would surely help anyone find their way through their Recorders. And if anyone needs a sheet of paper, there are 16 perforated sheets at the back of the notebook to tear without affecting the rest of the pages in the particular signature. The Recorder also has an expandable inner pocket in the back cover to hold ephemera, receipts, tickets, and other bits of paper. It is also meant to store page guide sheets that Endless designed to keep users on track.

Endless Stationery offers the Recorder in four colors: Infinite Space (black), Forest Canopy (green), Deep Ocean (blue), Crimson Sky (red), and Mountain Snow (light gray). All five colors are available with ruled, dotted, squared, and blank pages. 

The Recorder Notebook's front and back covers are imprinted with the Endless Stationery logos. On the front cover: the long line signifies content and the ellipsis (three dots) "proceeds to infinity." The lower part of the back cover is imprinted with ENDLESS. 

The Recorder Notebook's inside cover page is designed with empty circles to resemble the Endless logo's ellipsis. A blank box in the upper part of the page is meant for writing the owner's name and other details. 

The designers of the Recorder thoughtfully built this notebook. It has two pages for a Table of Contents so it's easier to keep track of what's inside the notebook.

The Recorder's pages are numbered and this feature is helpful in creating a directory for the notebook's contents.

The new Recorder has two page markers, the signature turquoise page marker of Endless Stationery, and another one in the same color as the notebook's cover. The Ocean Blue notebook has the dark blue and turquoise page markers.

Loving the Recorder's rounded page corners. No sharp, pointed corners to bite into my hand and arm while writing. Also, rounded corners are less prone to fraying, so the cover and inside pages won't be worn down easily.

The Recorder Notebook has an expandable inner pocket in its inside back cover. I do not usually use these pockets because their contents create bulges and make it uncomfortable to write on the notebook's pages, but this notebook's back pocket is also meant to hold the Recorder's guide sheets.

Because this new Recorder Notebook has new paper, I was really excited to try writing on it. I tested the Regalia paper using some of my still-inked fountain pens with different nibs — fine, medium, and broad. The Regalia paper is so smooth, it's truly a joy to write on! My pens' inks did not bleed, and I did not see any feathering or ghosting. 

My pen and ink test on Regalia paper did not have any feathering or bleeding.

Then I also tried writing on a whole page of the Regalia paper and it's true! Regalia paper is a joy to write. I used my TWSBI 530 with a wet medium nib inked with Iroshizuku Asa-gao to do this test. The TWSBI wrote smoothly on Regalia paper. No feathering, and certainly no bleeding. The ink on the stamp I used for the date did not bleed, too. I did some ink swatches at the back of this test page and though the Robert Oster Fire Engine Red ghosted a bit, it did not soak the paper to the other side of the sheet. Regalia paper is truly an excellent paper for fountain pen ink!

I did write on two pages of the Recorder Notebook to test Regalia paper. The ink from my wet and juicy TWSBI 530 did not bleed.

Here is the back side of the sheet. The Fire Engine Red ink is wetter than the two blue inks and almost bled to the other side of the sheet. Fortunately, it did not bleed through.

I also did an ink art on the Recorder's Regalia paper using a Leonardo Furore with Robert Oster Orange Zest. The color in this ink art is amazing and Regalia paper helps make ink colors pop out and look radiant on it!

The Recorder Notebook with Regalia paper is an excellent, well-made notebook, and is one of the most ink-friendly papers available in the whole world today. I love its features: Table of Contents, numbered pages, rounded corners, and numbered pages. Regalia paper is so friendly to fountain pens, and the Recorder has that simple, "classic notebook" elegant look. The leatherette cover is durable, the signature turquoise elastic strap keeps the pages together, and the round page corners prevent fraying. This notebook is perfect for journaling, calligraphy, note-taking, ink swatching, or for simply writing down thoughts and ideas. With the Recorder, ideas are endless! Get one for your pens!

The Recorder notebook in this review is provided by PenGrafik, the exclusive seller of Recorder Notebook and Endless Stationery products in the Philippines. Visit PenGrafik on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PenGrafik) and see their many offerings!