The nice people over at Exaclair sent me a Quo Vadis Minister to review.
First of all — thank you very much, Karen, for allowing me to check out the planner, even at such short notice.
First impressions:
The diary is about A5 in size (16 x 24cm / 6½ x 9½) and approximately 15mm thick (20mm with the cover).
Mine came in the Soya Cover in Lavender (Blue)
The cover is soft and flexible, not too thick and covers the diary well.
There is no ribbon and no elastic band (which I would personally have liked. Looking at the range, the Habana version is the one I’d go for next time.)
The paper is smooth to the touch and superb quality. Not thin, or flimsy, but rather nicely weighted and solid without feeling like it’s a "fat" page.
There is an address book in the back, slipped into the cover.
The layout is very well done, one week to two pages, with priority spots at the top of the page, a space for phone numbers, Fax/Email, See/Do, Pay/Receive and Note spaces on the side.
Sunday is at the bottom of the pages, across both pages.
You also get:
International Telephone Access Codes
Average Temperatures
Chart of International Holidays
A "Year at a Glance" Planner spanning two pages, with holidays marked. 2009 at the front, 2010 at the back.
Maps
Several pages for receipts and payments
Note pages.
The diary covers December 2008 – January 1st 2010 with a weekly, timed layout, and January 2010 with a daily layout, covering the month.
Corners are perforated for easy marking where you’re at.
10/10 for first impressions, although I really would have liked a moleskine-like elastic band on the cover, like the Habana version, since I cart the diary around with me.
Usability:
Let me just say one thing — The paper in this diary is fantastic.
Quo Vadis use Clairfontaine paper, which is acid free and pH neutral. It’s opaque, doesn’t bleed, feather or smear. And the finish is so smooth to the touch, it’s hard to believe it’s not coated with something. You just want to keep touching that paper when you get your hands on it, it’s so nice to the touch.
I’m a fountain pen user and my Herlitz Tornado glides over it like a dream. There is no bleed through even with my troublesome Noodlers Le Coleur Royale, which tends to dry slowly and soak paper. My Shaeffer Imperial behaves nicely with Diamine Aqua Blue, as does the P51 with Diamine Washable Blue. None of them bleed through, no feathering and all dried quite quickly. The paper isn’t scratchy against the nib and allows the pens to glide smoothly across the page.
Not only that, but the colors come out bright and clean too!
I find the page layout of the Minister slightly on the narrow side, if you use a medium nib size, but I had no problem with my F nib P51. Still, you have room on the side if you need to make additional notes.
The "Year at a Glance" planner is great. I use it for my word count. 
The hour type is relatively small, so if you are a bit challenged with reading — you might want to get your glasses out. I had to. I didn’t find it a disadvantage, because you sort of get a feel of where in the day you are, anyway. Plus, I also tend to write the exact time into the meeting/event I put in, anyway.
The corners tear cleanly, and don’t seem to fray.
The address book is useful, if you’re like me, and you tend to forget where the heck you put an address / phone number.
8/10 for usability. Mainly because I found sometimes there wasn’t a lot of room for an appointment note if it only took half an hour.
Overall:
The pricing for this planner is about $23 (£20.50) in Soya or Habana, but you can get it in Nappa Leather as well. You need to pretty much double the price then, from what I saw, but you get a leather cover.
The refill and address book is about £14.63 (I didn’t see the bundle in US shops), the refill alone is $8 (plain) $16 (Gold Edge) (£12.33), the address book alone was $5 (Plain), $7 (Gold Edge)
Do I think $23 is expensive for this planner?
Absolutely not. I think the paper alone makes this a superb planner, since it won’t give out on you half way into the year. (Most of my diaries gave up by about June and fell apart.) This one will survive a year easily, and if you need to keep it for the record, it’ll last through that as well.
Final Verdict:
If you are looking for a diary that will serve you well throughout the entire year, looks clean and has a no-nonsense layout — then this is the one for you.
If you use a fountain pen… then this is definitely the one for you!
I am going to enjoy using my Minister until next year, when I will most likely replace it with either another Minister, or one of the other Quo Vadis planners. Habana cover that time round, because I like the look of it.
But my 2010 diary is absolutely going to be another Quo Vadis!
Not only that, I will most likely get one of the pocket versions for my other half, who uses and abuses his diaries like you wouldn’t believe. He generally ends up having to replace his diary mid year, because it falls apart. A Quo Vadis might just survive his treatment of it.
