» Triomphe
Most people associate Clairefontaine with their notebooks, but they also make many other paper products, including stationery.
Pollen is bright-colored stationery in different shapes and sizes, and Triomphe stationery consists of blank and ruled tablets in two sizes with matching envelopes.
Triomphe stationery has been around for about 60 years. Christine Nusse, president of Exaclair and a member of the family that founded Clairefontaine, remembers Triomphe as “the paper used around the house” by her mother and other family members.
Image courtesy of Biffybeans © All Rights Reserved
It was not fancy social stationery, she said, but good quality paper for everyday writing and correspondence. The philosophy behind the manufacture of Triomphe writing tablets was the same as Clairefontaine notebooks: good paper goes with a respect for good writing tools, and both together make writing a pleasure.
Triomphe pads are made with the same 90g super smooth paper as Clairefontaine’s notebooks. The blank ones are especially popular, but not so much for correspondence as for the practice of hand-writing.
One person who helped to make Triomphe pads known among calligraphers and pointed penmen is Michael Sull, who uses them himself and in his workshops to practice Spencerian script and “Offhand Flourishing” for ornamental penmanship.
Michael Sull is a Master Penman, engrosser and lettering artist who is known internationally for his work and abilities in the field of American Ornamental Penmanship. He is considered America’s foremost penman and teacher in the art of Spencerian Script. In 1980-81 he had the opportunity to apprentice with Paul O’Hara, the last living master penman from the America’s Golden Age of Penmanship (1850-1925).
One last bit of trivia: the name “Triomphe” comes from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
Read Biffybean’s October 28, 2009 review of Triomphe pads here.
Visit Michael Sull’s website here.
Does anyone have any special uses for Triomphe pads? Sketching? Use the sheets to make your own journal?
Comments
Another awesome review from Biffy. This paper is the bomb-diggity. I use it every day. I write to my pen pals with it, and use it to write thank you notes to each one of my customers when they order. Nothing is smoother, and it’s no surprise it is so popular.
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