Leather Notebooks, Journals, & Sketchbooks
Dreams begin,
Songs are written,
Stories are told...
Capture every moment
Leatherpress journals are a place where dreams begin, songs are written, stories are told, lives are planned and problems solved. Words on paper clarify thinking, make goals happen and show us what really matters. A journal doesn’t just belong to you, it’s a part of you.
Our Collections
Types Of Journals
Why Leatherpress
Journaling Feels Good
Whether it’s writing in your gratitude journal or prayer journal, or simply getting your lists for the day down on paper, journaling as a habit can help you unclutter your brain.
Become Who You Want To Be
Journaling helps us see what’s inside, and intention setting can be a great way to leave a legacy. A Leatherpress journal helps you reflect and sort through what’s most important to you.
Leave a Legacy
Leave your life lessons and stories in your journal. As you describe traditions or copy the most-loved recipes into a recipe notebook – you’ll have peace of mind knowing you’ve got it down for kids and grandkids.
Capture The Moment
Words on paper tell your story – whether travel memories, a family fishing trip or a novel in the making. Don’t let those experiences and images get away. Describe them all in full color!
Leatherpress Luxury
Each of us have great reverence for the personal content of our journal. A journal is kept close to the heart, a safe space for ideas, thoughts and stories. That’s because our journals reflect who we are, as much as any other carefully curated lifestyle accessory. At Leatherpress, we’ve designed the journal you’ve always wanted, with luxury leather sourced and custom crafted in South Africa. Our journals feel great in the hand and our bindings are built to enclose the most personal thoughts. Choose from the pebbled leather of our Inspire Journals or the full-grain leather covering our Heritage journals.
The Leatherpress Difference
Leather With Character
We only work with premium, full-grain, African leather, which we perfect with classical stitching and binding methods. Our high-quality leather is strong but soft to the touch, and each piece is different just like every person is different! It will take on an individual patina over time, giving your journal its own distinctive character.
Paper Perfection
Our ivory acid-free paper has been selected for its opacity and exceptional ability to absorb ink. The pages are 80 gsm, a paper weight that lends itself to a smooth and elegant writing experience, while the end sheets are a firm and luxurious 200 gsm.
Binding Craftsmanship
Our journals make use of Smyth sewing, a technique developed by the Irish-American bookbinder, David McConnell Smyth, in the late 1800s. It was Smyth who first sewed collections of folded pages together by thread in a method still known today for its strength and durability.
Our Signature
Every Leatherpress journal comes complete with carefully considered details and finishing touches, including gilded pages on our Heritage journals, a ribbon page marker and an accordion-style storage pocket inside our Inspire notebooks. All journals and notebooks are finished with a debossed Leatherpress logo.
Find a treasure in our Heritage Collection
Why Journals
Fill your Leatherpress journals and leather notebooks with whatever is on your mind! Get it down on paper, whether a memory, an idea, a recipe, or a bucket list. In a world of digital, the physical movement of writing in a journal stimulates our creativity in different ways. In a distracting world, journaling focuses on a task or an idea, preservation of memory, or thoughts to be explored.
“People who keep journals have life twice.” Jessamyn West
Capture The Details
A photograph captures a visual moment, but words express the sounds, smells, touch, and feel of that memory. Even more, words can bring a picture to life, moving thoughts to words to paper. Travel journals, especially, help record all those extras a photo can’t communicate, bringing the scene to life with people, conversations, and emotion.
The Leatherpress Story
Sourced in the South African countryside, our leather is the finest cowhide, processed in South Africa using the best Italian processing machinery. We’ve taken our time getting the result right, and you’ll find our leather to be of the same quality as the handcut and handsewn leather used in luxury European cars. We’ve covered our Heritage journals in full-grain leather, so each has its own unique grain. Our Inspire notebooks feature classic and popular pebbled leather.
South African Beauty
Our South African heritage underpins this business, and we are proud to continue to source our products and nurture business relationships with small businesses in a beautiful country. Leatherpress journals truly bear an internationally curated lineage!
Don’t miss a Moment...
Leatherpress journals move thoughts to words to paper, inking in dreams, memories and traditions. Wrap your best ideas up in one of our luxury leather journals.
Take a look at our bright Inspire Collection leather journals
Our Leather
We work with the best South African leather perfected with Italian process and design.