The Settler handmade leather notebook in Ochre, made in Lobethal South Australia

The Settler

Brumby / A5
$140.00
$140.00 $0.00
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The Settler handmade leather notebook in Ochre, made in Lobethal South Australia
  • The Settler handmade leather notebook in Ochre, made in Lobethal South Australia
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
The Settler

Rustic Wren · Traveller's Range

The Settler.

A refillable leather journal. One wrap of leather, four elastics, nothing more. The simplest in the range.

Some things don't need to be complicated.

Leather ColourBrumby
Size
Embossing, included free
JMB
Your initials or a name, pressed into the leather at the studio. Up to 5 letters · Goudy Old Style · Upper or lowercase.
How embossing works ↓
$140.00
$140.00 $0.00

Includes 3 × 60 page lined inserts.

Complete the system with our leather Companion →A leather insert with card sleeves and a zip pocket -- sits inside your notebook.

or pay in 4 with Afterpay
About this notebook
Simple by design.

Pick it up. The leather has a weight to it that stops you. Full-grain, cut from Australian hides -- the surface is exactly as it came off the animal. No sanding, no correction. Run your thumb across it and you can feel the grain. You will smell it before you open the first page.

That is not incidental. That is the leather telling you what it is.

The Settler is a single wrap of leather with four spine elastics and a centre closure. Nothing more. There is a reason it is where the range begins -- not because it is the simplest, but because it is the most honest. Everything you see is everything it is.

Jess's family have worked the Adelaide Hills for seven generations. The first of them put down roots and built from what the land gave them. The Settler carries that same logic. No decoration, no ceremony. A cover that earns its place over years of use.

The leather will soften into whoever carries it. The patina it develops will be entirely theirs -- shaped by their hands, their bag, their daily rhythm. Every mark belongs to the person who made it.

Add initials and they are pressed into the leather using a traditional hot embossing machine -- a method unchanged since the 1880s. No foil, no ink. Just heat and pressure. That is what makes it a gift rather than a purchase. That is what makes it irreplaceable.

01
THE MOST HONEST NOTEBOOK WE MAKE
Single wrap. Four elastics. Centre closure. No feature has been added for the sake of it. Every element is here because it earns its place. Simplicity this considered is harder to make than complexity.
02
NOTHING HIDDEN, NOTHING ADDED
The grain is visible. The variation is real. You are not looking at a corrected or sanded surface -- you are looking at exactly what came from the hide, exactly as it grew. No two covers are identical. That is not a flaw in the making. That is the making.
03
FOR THE PERSON WHO BUYS ONE GOOD THING AND KEEPS IT
Not three cheap ones that get replaced. One right one that stays. The Settler will still be on their desk in twenty years and look better for every year of it.
Hot embossing · Goudy Old Style · Pressed by hand
04
Hot embossing · Goudy Old Style · Pressed by hand
THE LAST THING THAT HAPPENS
After the cutting and the stitching, one step remains. The notebook goes under the press and comes out carrying someone's initials. It is the final act of the making, and the moment it stops being ours and becomes yours.
What's in this notebook
Everything it needs. Nothing it doesn't.
→ Single wrap cover with centre closure
→ Four spine elastics hold 4 inserts comfortably -- add more as you go
→ Full-grain Australian leather
→ Cut and stitched by hand in Lobethal SA
→ 3 x 60 page lined inserts included
→ Refillable for life
→ Free embossing up to 5 letters, Goudy Old Style, upper or lowercase
Sizing guide
Find the size that fits your life.

All three sizes use the same leather cover and insert system. The only difference is how much page you have and where it lives during the day.

A6
105 x 148mm
Jacket pocket or small bagQuick notes, daily carryCompact and lightweightGood for those who write short
A5Most popular
148 x 210mm
Fits any bag or backpackWorks on a desk or your lapDesk, meeting, kitchen benchSize Jess carries every day
A4
210 x 297mm
Full page spread for notesDesk first, document bagRoom for diagrams and planningFor those who write at length

Not sure? A5 is the right choice for most people -- it moves between desk, bag, and meeting without thinking about it.

Blind embossing · Goudy Old Style · Front panel
Blind embossing · Goudy Old Style · Front panel
Make it yours
A method unchanged since the 1880s.

Initials pressed into the front panel using a traditional hot embossing machine. No foil, no ink. Just heat, pressure, and time. The impression settles into the leather and stays there for the life of the notebook.

Included with every order at no extra cost.

Font: Goudy Old Style · Upper or lowercase
Placement: front panel, bottom right
Up to 5 letters · Enter your text in the buy box above
What people say
Real people. Real leather. Real use.
The leather smell hit me the moment I opened the box. Three months in and it's already mine in a way I didn't expect. It goes everywhere. I haven't used a different notebook since.
Sarah M, Melbourne
The Curator -- Ochre -- A5 -- November 2025
Bought this for my husband's 60th. The initials on the front were the detail that got him. He opened it very slowly, which doesn't happen often. Couldn't have been more right.
Wendy K, Adelaide
The Curator -- Blacksmith -- A5 -- October 2025
I was looking for something I wouldn't have to replace. I've had this eight months and I can already see how it's going to look in five years. That's a good feeling.
James D, Brisbane
The Curator -- Worn Saddle -- A5 -- April 2025
I came back for The Curator after The Scribe. The sleeve system makes sense once you're using it daily. Jess was wonderful to deal with -- a genuine response from a real person.
Bianca T, Sydney
The Curator -- Inkwell -- A4 -- February 2026
The foundation. The one that gets handed down.
$140

Includes 3 x 60 page lined inserts.
Free embossing. Refillable for life.

Add The Settler

Others in the range

The Scribe.
The Scribe.
Direct, no ceremony. Trifold with a clean wrap closure, no strap. You're working the moment it's open.
From $160
The Wren.
The Wren.
Everything the range builds toward. Curator build plus a raw edge front pocket. The one Jess makes for herself.
From $195
The Settler's Companion.
The Settler's Companion.
The Settler and The Companion together. The whole system, ready to use.
$265 · saves $25
A note from Jess
The Settler is the one I hand to people who tell me they just want a good notebook. A single wrap of full-grain leather, four elastics, a centre closure -- nothing that doesn't earn its place. Some people move on to the more structured covers later. Plenty never do, and I understand why.
-- Jess, Lobethal