PLEASE READ THESE IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS

#1: This listing is for the cover only. The notebook is sold separately.

#2: These are made from un-dyed, "naked" leather, with nothing covered up - so they will have some natural range marks, scars and other blemishes. In other words, they are not processed to make them appear "perfect", like something you would get in a department store. That said, these are very high quality skins, probably better than most leathers you will find even in high-end designer products.

#3: Please see the pictures for examples of some, but not all imperfections

#4: Please note that signature will be required upon delivery (you can also leave a note for the mail carrier to leave it)

 Sometimes you search high and low for that perfect cover for your notebook. Other times you need a notebook to match the great cover you already have. I may be biased, but I think this combination of Seven Seas + Gfeller is as good as it gets.

 Gfeller of Meridian, Idaho custom fitted this cover for the Seven Seas Writer notebook. And wow, what a great cover is. The skins are sourced from a small tannery in the United Kingdom, and as you may know, some of the best leather in the world comes from the UK - think Swain Adeney cases, Crockett & Jones shoes, and a long history of saddles, bags and other riding gear. If the Lord and Lady Grantham and their daughters Mary and Edith needed leather notebook covers for their Seven Seas Writers, these would surely be on their wish list.

 If you're not familiar with Gfeller, they have been around since the 1940s (please check out this article for more history) and specialize in leather goods for geoscientists - field bags, tool holders, pouches, and various other items. They also do a lot of custom leather work and one of their specialties is notebook covers.  I found Gfeller a few years back when I was looking for a belt. I wanted something very high quality and simple - really just a strip of leather with holes and a buckle. Gfeller's site came up, and the price was no more than, say, what you would get at Filson or Ralph Lauren, and I'm always one to support the smaller outfits - the craftsmen - where possible. So I took a chance figuring that I'd get a decent belt but if it was just average so what it's just a belt and how good could it get anyway?

 Well, that belt turned out to be so much better than anything I could get anywhere else. Yes it is just a strip of leather, but it is the best leather strip you are likely to find, belt-wise. The grain is tight, the leather is thick (11 ounces) and the finish..... oh the finish. Even though it is naked leather it has this up-close sheen and sparkle that makes me pause to look at it everytime before I put it on.  And it is so tough my descendents will be fighting over it.

 But I digress. My point is that Gfeller makes great stuff. Also keep in mind that these are hand-crafted items - they will have small imperfections inherent to leather and leather work. And, with naked leather, it is both impossible and economically impractical to reject anything with a stitch that is 1/64 of an inch off a straight line or has a small scar or stretch mark. Well, maybe Hermes could try to make it almost perfect, but they would charge $1,000; Louis Vuitton would not use leather at all.

 Anyway, even though it is obvious that Gfeller just wants their covers to be simple, functional, and well-made, which they are, they fail at being non-descript, because anyone that knows really good stuff will recognize this as a rare find. It is sure to invite admiring or even envious stares.

 On to the finer points... it is made specifically for the A5 Seven Seas notebook, but will fit any notebook up to 15mm thick with a cover trimmed to 210x148mm. For example, it will fit the A5-size Life, Apica and Midori notebooks because those are all about 10mm thick with 210x148mm trimmed covers.

 Note that it has the signature Gfeller inner flaps which help to eliminate the "writing bump" towards the beginning and ending pages in a notebook.

 CARE: A light coating of neatsfoot, mink or other high-quality leather care oil a couple of times a year is sufficient.

 There is so much more that I want to say, but you may never make it down to the pictures!