Rhodia Ice Webbie Notebook Cover and Label

So back in May at the National Stationery Show I was lucky enough to get a first peek at the new Rhodia Ice Webnotebook (via Amazon), and now I’m even luckier because a few days ago the lovely folks from Exaclair sent me a sample for this review.  They are supposed to be available in stores sometime this month, but I was told that if anyone wants to get their hands on one, they can just let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Karen from Exaclair/Rhodia and she will be able to help you out.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook front cover

This version of the Rhodia Ice Webnotebook is the “Desk” size that measures 5.5″ x 8.3″ and has 96 sheets (192 pages) of ruled Ivory acid-free and pH neutral 90g Clairefontaine paper.  I’ve you have never used one of these notebooks and are a fountain pen user, I’d highly recommend them. Here is our old review with lots of pictures and writing samples.  As you can already see, the Rhodia Ice Webbie is pretty much decked out in silver on every square inch and it looks fantastic!

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook and Lamy Studio Stainless Steel

One of my favorite things about the Rhodia Ice Webbie isn’t just that the cover is silver, but that its got a very visible grain pattern to it.  It has the look of a very nice brushed metal, although my photography skills really don’t do it justice in the pictures here.  The first time I saw it at the National Stationery Show it reminded me of my stainless steel Lamy Studio fountain pen so I wanted to get a picture of them together.

Rhodia Ice Webbie Notebook Cover Logo

Here is a slightly more close up picture of the Rhodia Ice Webnotebook that shows the embossed Rhodia tree logo as well as a little better view of that grain texture.  If you run your finger up and down the cover vertically, you really don’t feel anything different, but if you do the same horizontally from left to right, you can feel a very fine bit of texture to it.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook Inside Cover and Ribbon

Inside the Rhodia Ice Webnotebook you will find even more silvery goodness including the inside of the cover, the first page, and the single face satin ribbon page marker.  I’m just now realizing I photographed this with the non-satin face of the ribbon page marker, but I kinda like how the texture looks so I decided to keep it and not retake the picture.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook Inside Corner

Just like all of the other Rhodia Webnotebooks, this Ice version has nicely formed rounded corners.  The craftsmanship here is great, even though its a minor detail, but I’ve seen some notebooks where the paper at the corners isn’t affixed firmly and comes apart easily, but thats never been the case on the Rhodia Webnotebook in my experience.  I mention this because if it were done poorly it would probably expose a color other than silver underneath which would takeaway from the overall look.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook Inside Back Pocket

On the inside back cover, you have the standard accordion expandable pocket to store smaller documents or papers.  The pocket is silver, of course, and one of the only parts of the notebook that isn’t silver is found here with the sides of the pocket that expand and are black.  Certainly doesn’t take away anything from the design, but I thought it was worth calling out since its the only thing in the notebook (besides the paper) that isn’t silver. You can see the black edges of it peeking out in the above picture.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook Inside the Back Pocket

After reading this far, you probably saw this coming, but it was a surprise to me the first time I really examined the Rhodia Ice Webnotebook but it was cool to see that the inside of the pocket was silver too.  I know that on the black versions they are black inside the pocket too, but for some reason I wasn’t expecting this so it was a nice surprise.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook with Regular Black Webbie to Compare Cover Thickness

When I was reporting about this notebook during the National Stationery Show, Instagram user @Subgirl asked about the foamy padding on the covers and how this version compares to others.  I have to say it doesn’t feel as padded and soft as the regular black version, but they look like they are the same thickness.  They do feel very similar but I could swear the Ice Webbie is slightly less puffy, but maybe its just because of the softer feel of the black cover as compared to the slightly textured feel of the Ice version, its a close call.

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook Writing Sample

Rhodia Ice Webnotebook Writing Sample:

Just like all of the other Rhodia Webnotebooks, the Ice version with its 90g Ivory paper provides an amazingly smooth writing experience with virtually no feathering and minimal show-through. Oh, and the rulings in the Ice version of the Webbie are not the usual Rhodia purple color, but instead are a nice shade of lighter grey that matches the mostly silver theme.  The writing sample above was done with a Pelikan M805 with medium nib and Pelikan’s Edelstein Topaz fountain pen ink.  If you are a fountain pen user, the Rhodia Webnotebook is a no-brainer.  If you like unique notebooks that have a little more pizzazz and flash to them, the Rhodia Ice Webnotebook is definitely the notebook for you.  I’ve always been a fan of the Rhodia Webbie and its amazing Clairefontaine paper, but this design really ups the ante on this style and format of notebook, as they just look amazing.  Grab one over on Amazon here.

©2016, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.