Red Leather Journals

Rouge is the bright red in the range; Bordeaux, the burgundy, is the dark one. Rouge comes on a single model so far: Alpine, the trifold cover that takes six notebooks. Red leather journal covers and red leather notebook covers in eight sizes, from Field Notes up to A4, all refillable.

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Text displaying various paper sizes on a beige background

A close-up of a pale blush pink notebook cover with the words 'Field Notes size' printed in a dark burgundy serif font.

B6 leather journal cover — shop B6 notebook sizes

Paper refill inserts for refillable leather journals

About Red Leather Journals

Red Leather Journal Covers in Rouge

Search for a red leather journal and you will find burgundy mixed in with the reds. We cut both, so here is the difference in numbers. Sampled from the same photograph of a closed Alpine in each leather, Rouge carries about 60 percent more red than Bordeaux and a quarter of the blue. It is the most saturated leather in the range: close to pure red, leaning a few degrees toward tomato and never toward pink.

Rouge or Bordeaux

Rouge is the bright, warm red, and you can tell it is red from across a room.
Bordeaux is the dark, cool red that also goes by burgundy, maroon, oxblood and wine. Under warm indoor light it goes deeper still, and you will find it on the burgundy leather journals page.

If the phrase in your head was dark red leather journal, you want Bordeaux. If it was simply red, stay here.

The Other Warm Leathers

Two more sit close to Rouge. Framboise is a raspberry pink, with a little less red and several times the blue. Mandarine is a burnt orange and far lighter. If you would rather have something quieter, Cognac is rust and Black Onyx is the neutral.

One Model: Alpine

Rouge is cut for Alpine only, so you cannot get a slim red cover from us yet. Alpine is a trifold with six elastics, which means you can carry up to six notebooks, plus two slip pockets on one side and a zip pocket with a pen loop on the other. In Rouge the elastics and the stitching are red as well. You pay the same as for the six base colors: $67 for Field Notes, $85 for A5, $120 for A4.

Red in Eight Sizes

The sizes are Field Notes, Pocket Size, A6, B6, Regular, A5, B5 and A4. If you write in a Leuchtturm1917 Medium, a Midori MD A5 or a Rhodia A5, a red leather notebook cover in A5 takes it as it comes. If you plan in a Hobonichi, the A5 makes a red leather planner cover for the Cousin and the A6 for the Techo. Regular is the red traveler's notebook cover, cut for 4.3" × 8.3" (11 × 21 cm) refills.

How a Bright Red Changes

Rouge is Crazy Horse, waxed like the rest of our range, so it will not stay as even as it arrives. The paler streaks you can see on the flap in our photos are where the wax moved as the hide was flexed, and more will come wherever your cover bends or meets a fingernail. A rub with your thumb pushes most of the wax back. Where your hand rests, the red slowly deepens. The first weeks are the awkward part: a new cover with a few marks looks marked, and only after a season do the marks join up into something that looks worn in.

Names and What Goes Inside

Any cover here can be personalized: laser engraving, heat stamping, gold foil or silver foil. Our six leather inserts are cut in Rouge too, so the card pockets inside your cover can match it. You can add notebook refills and journal charms on the same elastics, and you will find every leather and size on the leather journals hub.

Need help choosing?

Frequently Asked Questions

Red Leather Journals

Is Rouge a true red or a burgundy?

A true red. Measured off our own photographs, Rouge is almost nothing but red, with a slight lean toward tomato. Our burgundy is a different leather called Bordeaux: darker, cooler, and the one you want if you searched for maroon or oxblood. If you need a gift that is unmistakably red, Rouge is the one to choose.

What is the difference between a red and a burgundy leather journal?

Depth and temperature. Rouge is bright and warm, with almost no blue in it. Bordeaux is a dark, cool red with enough blue to read as wine. In the same photograph Rouge shows about 60 percent more red. If you are matching a gift to a word, red means Rouge and burgundy means Bordeaux.

Which red leather journal cover models do you make?

One for now: Alpine, a trifold with six elastics, two slip pockets, a zip pocket and a pen loop, in eight sizes from Field Notes to A4. You pay the same in Rouge as in the base colors, $85 in A5. If you want a slimmer cover in a red tone, Bordeaux is available on most of our models.

How does red leather age?

Rouge is waxed Crazy Horse, so it changes as you use it. Creases and scratches come up paler because the wax moves aside, and a rub with your thumb takes most of them back; the places you hold most slowly deepen. Expect a few weeks in which your cover looks marked before it looks worn in. Keep it out of long direct sun, which lifts the dye in any colored leather.

Can I get a red traveler's notebook cover in Regular size?

Yes. The Regular Alpine in Rouge is cut for the standard 4.3" × 8.3" (11 × 21 cm) refill, so Traveler's Company refills fit, and it carries up to six of them. It is $80. If your notebooks are A5, A6 or Field Notes instead, you can have the same cover in seven other sizes.