Fountain pen beginners often spend hours trying to decide on their first pen and ink, with nary a thought wasted on paper—but in the trifecta of finding the optimal writing experience, paper can’t be ignored. The world of fountain pen–friendly paper can be complex and confusing, so while a deep dive could potentially confuse newbies as opposed to guiding them, this brief overview can help you avoid disappointment at the beginning of your fountain pen journey.
Why Paper is Important
Fountain pen ink is water-based. This introduces a couple of potential problems when compared to pigment-based inks. Ballpoint ink doesn’t necessarily care what sort of paper it’s being used on. Fountain pen ink can be more finicky.
Ordinary copy paper (ink jet more so than laser) is highly absorbent. In the best case, this can lead to a weightier line when using fountain pen ink—your fine nib might be putting down a medium or even broad line, which can already be a problem if your handwriting is relatively small: your e’s and o’s might be filled in where there’s supposed to be a gap.
In the worst case, the ink can feather on bad paper. Feathering means that your lines fray at the edges because the paper’s fibers absorb the ink and carry it farther away from where you’re intending to write.
Budget Fountain Pen–Friendly Paper
Rhodia and Clairefontaine, whilst still marketed as different brands, have been the same company since Clairefontaine’s acquisition of their competitor in 1997. Rhodia’s “Dot Pads”, notepads with a perforated top-binding, are a mainstay on many fountain pen users’ desks for their relative cheapness whilst still being fountain pen–friendly. Clairefontaine’s “Age Bag” line features notebooks with a stapled or glued binding, providing the same paper quality as Rhodia’s lineup with a less colourful, slightly more elegant appearance.
What makes Clairefontaine’s products (including Rhodia) fountain pen–friendly isn’t necessarily the weight of the paper—it’s the coating. It makes the paper far less absorbent, resulting in a smooth tactile appearance and a feather-free writing experience.
High-End Sheener: Tomoe River
Hailing from Japan, Tomoe River is considerably more expensive than the budget options above. Tomoe River mostly supplies external notebook makers with paper (as opposed to Clairefontaine, who make the paper and the notebooks), so prices can vary between manufacturers. €13.- is not an unusual price for a 120-page Tomoe River notebook, compared to about €6.- for a 192-page Clairefontaine equivalent.
For the price, fans of inks that sheen (i.e. change their colour depending on the viewing angle; a ‘metallic’ effect, if you will) get a high-quality notebook that shows off their sheening inks’ properties better than any budget option. For an impressive comparison between Rhodia and Tomoe River, I recommend Mountain of Ink’s review of Colorverse Black Hole.