If you've spent any time in stationery circles, you've seen this debate play out on Reddit, YouTube, and Instagram. Three brands, three very different notebooks, and a lot of conflicting opinions. After years of supplying both Singapore and Malaysia — and watching customers switch, return, and upgrade — here's what we actually think.

🖊️ Moleskine: Famous for a reason, but know what you're buying

Moleskine built one of the strongest brand identities in stationery. The collaborations are excellent — limited editions with artists, designers, and cultural properties that make them genuinely collectible. If you're a pencil user, a casual note-taker, or someone who wants a notebook that looks good on a boardroom table, Moleskine delivers.

But if you use a fountain pen or a rollerball, forget it. The paper ghosts and bleeds. This isn't a niche complaint from enthusiasts — it's the single most consistent piece of feedback we hear from customers who've switched. Moleskine's paper simply wasn't designed for liquid ink, and no amount of brand prestige changes that.

For professional writers, executives who take meeting notes with a good pen, or anyone who cares about the writing surface, Moleskine is the wrong choice.

✒️ Rhodia: The calligrapher's favourite

Rhodia paper is extraordinarily smooth. Several calligraphers we work with swear by it, and for good reason — ink glides across the surface cleanly, dries well, and shows off shading inks beautifully. If pure writing performance is your only criterion, Rhodia competes at the top.

The limitations are real though. Rhodia's hardcover options are limited, and their colour range is narrow compared to what Leuchtturm1917 offers. The bigger issue for everyday users: Rhodia's dot grid has large, dark dots that sit prominently on the page. They don't recede into the background when you write. For those doing layouts, spreads, or visual work — the dots compete with your content in a way that gets distracting over time.

📒 Leuchtturm1917: The best balance of performance and practicality

Leuchtturm1917 was designed for people who actually use their notebooks. Numbered pages, a table of contents, a bookmark ribbon, an expandable back pocket, a spine label. These aren't marketing features — they're the difference between a notebook you can navigate and one you have to flip through to find anything.

The paper handles fountain pens, rollerballs, fineliners, and most ballpoints without issue. For heavier ink use — broad nibs, wet inks, alcohol markers — the Edition 120g takes it further with 120gsm paper built specifically for that purpose.

The dot grid deserves special mention. Leuchtturm1917's dots are small, light, and designed to fade into the background when you write. They guide without dominating. And then there's the colour range — over 20 colours, which matters far more than most people expect, especially for corporate buyers in Singapore and Malaysia.

📊 Side-by-side comparison

🏢 A note for corporate buyers in Singapore and Malaysia

One of the most practical advantages of Leuchtturm1917 for corporate gifting is the breadth of the colour range. There is almost always a colour close enough to your company's Pantone that you can find a match without ordering a custom run. That means no large MOQ just to get your brand colour right.

We've seen this play out directly. One corporate buyer switched her organisation from Moleskine to Leuchtturm1917. The quality difference was immediately apparent — the customisation was sharper, the detail finer, and the notebooks held up to daily use in a way Moleskine's didn't. When she moved to a new employer, she brought those notebooks with her. Her new director used one cover to cover and has been lobbying to switch the whole team ever since.

For Malaysia corporate buyers: we supply directly to companies across Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Penang, and Johor Bahru. For corporate enquiries from Malaysia, visit our Malaysia corporate notebook gifts page.

🏆 The verdict

Moleskine — if brand collaborations and aesthetics are the priority, and you write in pencil or ballpoint only.

Rhodia — if you're a calligrapher or fountain pen purist and writing surface smoothness is your single criterion.

Leuchtturm1917 — if you want a notebook that performs across every writing instrument, organises well, looks excellent, and comes in a colour you'll actually want to carry.

💬 Frequently asked questions