Review on Brown Leather A5 Travelers Notebook - Refillable Travel Journal With 3 Lined Inserts For Men And Women, 90 Sheets Included by Glenn Kumar

I have to say I'm really disappointed. My purpose behind purchasing an A5 travelers notebook was to carry a journal and a watercolor sketchbook at the same time (I learned for the first time that you can get watercolor inserts on amazon and etsy). I was deciding between this book and one from another company, ultimately choosing this one because I know September Leather is supposed to be a decent company. I don't think I'll be able to purchase from them again because what I received, while still usable, must be a used product.The cover is extremely distressed with scratches and marking throughout, as well as the spine showing clear wear from bending. The little piece of leather around the band is extremely distressed as well. One of the three notebooks included had an unusual stain and a black, charcoal-like deposit between the first page and the cover. I ended up ripping out that first page and in turn lost the back page.On top of this, the cover is not really meant for A5 notebooks. The watercolor insert I purchased is a true A5 size (5.8x8.3 inches) however it sticks out of the cover if I have it installed with the 2 pre-installed notebooks. I should have read the reviews prior to purchasing, otherwise I would have known that "A5" refers to the size of the actual cover, not the size of the books it holds. This is rather misleading and further confirmed by the fact that the 3 notebooks inserted are not a true A5 size; the horizontal edge measurement is slightly shorter, possibly around 5.5in rather than 5.8in. Therefore, in order to use my appropriately sized watercolor insert without it being exposed, I have to remove one of the notebooks and only use a 2 notebook system. Luckily for me, I only really need 2 notebooks as my Hobonichi Techo Weeks serves as my planner/journal.Overall, I'm not too happy with this purchase. Is it usable? Absolutely. But if you're a huge notebook/journal fan like myself and have a particular love of leather journals, there are certain things you want to experience for yourself. You want every scratch on your leather to be from your own hands and actions. You want to develop that lovely, aged patina yourself. You want the binding to be weathered as a sign of your frequent use, not someone else's. Receiving a notebook in this condition is a bit disheartening because I'm thinking about all the wonderful things that I am missing out on because of my notebook's current state. I can't even take the time to return it because I desperately needed my cover for my watercolor insert. So this will have to do for now until I have the opportunity to replace it. All I can say now is that this is the last I purchase a September Leather item, unless I receive evidence that I will not be disappointed again.