LEUCHTTURM1917Notebook Hardcover Medium A5-251 Numbered Pages for Writing and Journaling (Navy, Dotted)

I've been using this journal over a year now, and really love it. It still looks awesome on the outside... and on the inside, well, there you'd find my private thoughts and artwork. I use this notebook exclusively with fountain pen inks... a variety of inks. Usually there's no bleed through. Occasionally there is. As an artist, my challenge is to make the bleed through situations into something beautiful. I find that to be a lot of fun... so am staying positive and not complaining.This is a great notebook for writing in. There's an index of several pages at the beginning, and the pages are numbered, so it is perfect for use as a bullet journal or writer's journal, or whatever you like. The pages seem kind of thin, but still good quality. I have other bullet journals with thicker pages. But it is what it is and either you like it for what it is or you don't. I would not hesitate to buy another journal like this one, when this is full. However - if I was to do it again, I wouldn't limit myself just to fountain pen ink in this journal. Probably there are other pens that would be better for this one, like the Staedtler Triplus Fineliner Pens which are bright and beautiful and will not bleed through. (I just tried them on my pen check page at the back of the notebook, and they are perfect for this thickness and quality of paper.The cover of my Leuchtturm 1917 is hardcover, and the color is pink... what they call berry. It is so pretty. I'm glad I bought this one. It comes with the elastic, as pictured, and there's a nice sturdy pocket on the inside back cover. I've found it very handy for smaller items I pick up during my travels. The endpapers are white... a sort of creamy white. Everything about this notebook journal speaks quality.I've used this as a travel journal, for recording quotes, and as a memoir journal, using a prompt book. I'm not using it for my daily observations of life, though it could be that type of journal if need be. I do a lot of ink painting in this journal. I use the same inks I put into my fountain pens - Noodlers Inks in a variety of colors, and De Atramentis® Document Ink. I've also used the Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pens in this journal. It does well with all, but as you can imagine, if I put on the ink too thickly there's that risk of bleed through... so I've learned how much to use, and how much I can get away with layering it before the ink goes through the paper. It is a learning process.Recently I used a pen with a medium nib, and that bled through. Not good... and usually I use the extra-fine nibs which are better for preventing bleed through. Not a problem though - I turned the page and used the bleed-through page to create a bit of art using fountain pen ink applied by water brushes. I like the way it turned out even with the bleed through - it became part of the art.So, if you're looking for a good quality notebook with thin paper... numbered, with an index and pocket, this could be the right journal for you. I recommend it. I like all the colors, especially the berry pink which is so, so pretty. No complaints from me.

beautiful color and sturdy feel. not a fan of the grey string attatched but i do like the yellow one. pages are thin so it doesnt work well for heavy mediums like watercolor gouache or alcohol markers. for me this isn't an issue cus i like thin pages and i mostly work with gel pens and pencil. soft feel to it as well. great for being a junk journal/sketchbook and i also love scrapbooking and making the book thick. ive bought a leuchtturm book before and its the ONLY sketchbook i ever finished... the sizing is great as well (unlke the moleskins where those are thinner width wise). definitely an acquired taste though

I am a long time Moleskine user and absolutely love them. They are high quality, outstanding notebooks. Having said that, after checking out the Lechtturm, I definitely prefer it over the Moleskine notebooks.My first reaction to the Lechtturm was that it was a little bit wider and thicker than the equivalent Moleskine, the Lechtturm's finish on the paper is smoother which makes it feel nicer than the Moleskine, and the printing of the Lechtturm is clearly superior.The grid size is identical between the two but where Moleskine just prints a grid covering the entire page in such a way that the squares along the edges of the paper are cut off to varying degrees, the Lechtturm is more precisely printed with a nice header at the top for the date and/or title of the page and includes page numbers. The slightly wider page isn't much of a difference but it does offer a little extra real estate for writing/drawing which is nice. The Lechtturm's ink is slightly lighter than the Moleskine's also. It's a minor difference and the poor lighting in the pictures I'm uploading don't do it justice but the Lechtturm's ink is easily dark enough to use as a guide but light enough that it doesn't overwhelm pencil and becomes almost invisible in comparison to writing in dark inks such as those from gel, felt tip or fountain pens.I love that the Lechtturm has two ribbons. I regularly use one to mark the current blank page where my next notes are going to go while using the other to mark diagrams or notes I will need to repeatedly turn to for reference.Since I generally keep my work notebooks for years, I love having the table of contents and the numbered pages. I also love that the Lechtturm comes with labels for the spine and cover of the notebook. I've generally been using a Sharpy to write notebook titles on the spine and cover when I archive them. The labels will look a cleaner and making writing neatly easier (hand labeling notebook spines isn't conducive to my best printing). The labels fit neatly in the pocket in the back of the notebook so I don't need to worry about losing them.The only point where I find the Moleskine better is that it has a very slightly thicker cover. I still find I'm easily able to write in the Lechtturm while holding it (as opposed to laying it on a table/desk) with no problem and I don't think I would have even noticed it if I hadn't specifically compared the two covers.Overall, none of the differences between the Moleskine and the Lechtturm are huge but all things considered the Lechtturm is definitely the nicer of the two and is a buck or two cheaper at the time of this review.