Your impartial and comprehensive review site for writing instruments

The redesigned Galen Writing Box looks promising

A quick post, all.

Galen Leather came through on their promise to send me a third writing box. It arrived about a week ago. I had to pay about 45 quid for import charges, but that didn’t bother me one bit.

These guys have gone out of their way over a period of months to send me TWO replacement boxes, complete with all the trimmings — leather carrying handle, evil eye tag, and in this case Turkish coffee and tea — all for free. I’ve never been so impressed by the customer service of any company.

The revised design is significantly different to both v1 and v2. All of the photos in this post compare my v2 and v3 boxes. My v2 box had warped tremendously, but in the intervening weeks and months has settled down and seems to be fairly well-behaved now, unlike my original v1 (which ended up like two Pringles bolted together).

The inside dimensions seem to be the same, but the new box is definitely a fresh design. It has different joints, and different dimensions. It’s not as long, or as wide, but it’s thicker — and that means the supplied leather strap doesn’t fit properly. Not a deal breaker for me.

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Don’t be distracted by the extremely different grain. Look at those joints!

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Underneath the felt liner, two slots have been milled. Perhaps to inhibit warping?

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My particular example is not as well-finished as my V2. There’s some stray glue.

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And a dent or two.

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And some “measure twice, cut once” spots.

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But my stuff is already nicely at home. And I am deeply pleased.

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11 Comments

  1. slightlyunnerved

    Impressive service from the people at Galen. Glad that you got this sorted. I was rather taken with the writing box, but then held off buying when it became apparent that there were some QC issues. It might well have to back on the ‘want’ list. 😀

    • Anthony

      I’m confident they’d make sure you were fully satisfied – order with confidence!

      • slightlyunnerved

        Thanks!

      • Gene

        Purchased and received the Writing Box 5/29/19 after reading your review. My box has the exact same finish and warping issues. Emailed Galen two days ago, no response. Very disappointing purchase thus far.

        • Anthony

          Hi Gene — so you emailed them on Friday, no response by Sunday? I’d give them another couple of days. Also they’ve just run a seconds sale so they’re probably swamped with orders. I’m sure you’ll get it sorted.

  2. maralobuzerka

    What kind of notebook/journal/cover is visible in the box on the left-hand-side of the last photo?

    • Anthony

      Tweed hobonichi cover by Esplanade London on Etsy. I have three and love them.

  3. Rick McGee

    I’ve been watching the Galen Writing Box since day 1, and keeping up with your reviews and updates. I wanted this the moment I saw it. You’ve provided a great service to those of us considering the purchase. I’m glad to read about the excellent customer service and the areas of improvement. This is on my wish list and I look forward to having my own. Thanks!

    • Anthony

      Glad to be of service, Rick! Hope you enjoy the box when you get yours 🙂

  4. JohnE

    Let’s hope three is the charm. Sadly, three replacements with the third still carrying significant QC issues is pretty problematic for a box that runs in the “just under $200” range. I mean honestly, they couldn’t cherry pick a good one for you given this would be the third? Between the bad finger joints, sloppy glue work, leather straps that don’t fit, and pre-existing dents I have to say as intriguing as the concept is, what you appear to have there is a slapdash product made by unskilled Turkish labor (or skilled labor criminally inattentive to the details.)

    I know you want to love it but how can you recommend a product you’ve had to have replaced no fewer than three times and the third shows significant cosmetic and structural flaws straight out of the box?

    • Anthony

      Hey John,

      It’s been more than a year since I posted this review, and the Writing Box is still in daily use for me. It lives by my journalling chair, and I still love it to bits, for all its rustic faults! When I buy a product, I do like to know the people behind it, and to feel that I’m getting service from a company that cares. I definitely got that from Galen, and that’s worth money to me. The pricing is an interesting one. Without alternatives to compare it against, I’m not sure whether it’s overpriced or underpriced for the quality.

      Cheers,

      Ant

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