--- title: "Clairefontaine and Rhodia History: A French Paper Family" canonical: "https://stationerytimes.com/stories/clairefontaine-rhodia-history/" description: "Clairefontaine and Rhodia history from French sources: the 1858 Vosges paper mill, Charles Nusse's Exacompta, the 1934 orange Rhodia pad and the Nusse family." category: "Stories" published: 2026-10-23 updated: 2026-10-23 author: "Ellis Penhale" publisher: "Stationery Times" sources: 7 organizations: - name: "Exacompta Clairefontaine" country: "France" brands: ["Clairefontaine", "Rhodia", "J. Herbin", "Stillman & Birn"] source: "https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/le-groupe/" --- # Clairefontaine and Rhodia History: A French Paper Family > Clairefontaine's mill in the Vosges has made paper since 1858; Charles Nusse, a descendant of its founder, started Exacompta in Paris in 1928 and ran Clairefontaine from 1950. Rhodia began in Lyon in 1934 and joined in 1997. Both belong to Exacompta Clairefontaine, 80.46% owned by the Nusse family's Ets Charles Nusse. - URL: https://stationerytimes.com/stories/clairefontaine-rhodia-history/ - Category: Stories - Author: Ellis Penhale - Published: 2026-10-23 - Updated: 2026-10-23 ![An orange Rhodia stapled pad with its black two-fir-tree logo beside a timeline of Clairefontaine and Rhodia from 1858 to 1999](https://stationerytimes.com/images/raster/clairefontaine-rhodia-history-16x9.png) *Eight dates in the story of Clairefontaine and Rhodia, as the Exacompta Clairefontaine group and Rhodia's 90th-anniversary press kit give them.* Original drawing (SVG): . Drawings © 2026 Stationery Times, reusable with credit under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). ## Key takeaways - Jean-Baptiste Bichelberger's Papeteries de Clairefontaine in the Vosges has made paper since 1858; the Clairefontaine notebook brand dates from 1951. - Brothers Henri and Robert Vérilhac opened a paper wholesaler in Lyon in 1932 and launched the orange Rhodia stapled pad in September 1934; Clairefontaine bought Rhodia in 1997. - Rhodia says its pads are made at Illzach, near Mulhouse, from Clairefontaine paper: 14 million orange pads a year, in 14 sizes and 4 rulings, sold in more than 90 countries. - Exacompta Clairefontaine reported 2025 sales of 802.5 million euros (about US$899 million) and 3,377 staff at the end of 2025. - The Nusse family's holding company, Ets Charles Nusse, owned 80.46% of the listed group at the end of 2025; Guillaume Nusse chairs the board. Clairefontaine makes the smooth French notebook paper that fountain-pen users seek out, and Rhodia makes the orange stapled pad. Both belong to one family-controlled French group. Every date below comes from Exacompta Clairefontaine's French pages and 2025 annual report and from Rhodia's 90th-anniversary press kit, translated by us. ## What is the history of Clairefontaine and Rhodia? **Clairefontaine is a Vosges paper mill making paper since 1858 that a descendant of its founder, Charles Nusse, built into a stationery group, and Rhodia is a Lyon pad brand from 1934 that the group bought in 1997.** Today both belong to Exacompta Clairefontaine, controlled by the Nusse family. The group says it is the only one in Western Europe that both makes paper and turns it into finished products, and that it makes what it sells and sells what it makes. Its brands include Exacompta, Clairefontaine, Rhodia, Quo Vadis and J. Herbin. ## Clairefontaine and Rhodia timeline: 1858 to 1999 **Two family stories, one in the Vosges and one in Lyon, meet in 1997.** Dates are from the group's history page unless noted. | Date | Event | Source | |---|---|---| | 1858 | Papeteries de Clairefontaine, founded by Jean-Baptiste Bichelberger, makes paper in the Vosges | Group history | | 1928 | Charles Nusse, Bichelberger's great-grandson, opens a Paris workshop printing and binding account books: Exacompta | Group history | | 1932 | Henri and Robert Vérilhac open Papeteries Vérilhac Frères in Lyon | Rhodia page | | September 1934 | The Vérilhacs register Rhodia and launch the orange stapled pad | Rhodia press kit | | 1950 | Charles Nusse takes charge of the Papeteries de Clairefontaine | Group history | | 1951 | Clairefontaine notebook brand | Clairefontaine page | | 1958 | AFA founded; first diaries | Group history | | 1979 | ClairAlfa copy paper | Group history | | 1985 | Buys Papeteries Sill | Group history | | 1990 | Takes over the Mandeure paper mill and Lavigne calendars | Group history | | 1996 | Exacompta, Clairefontaine and AFA grouped under one holding company | Group history | | 1997 | Buys the Rhodia pads; production moves to Illzach, near Mulhouse | Group history; Rhodia press kit | | 1998 | Takes over Papeteries Schut, for art papers | Group history | | 1999 | Takes over Quo Vadis diaries | Group history | | 2007 | Black Rhodia pad | Rhodia press kit | | 2014 | White Rhodia pad, for the brand's 80th year | Rhodia press kit | ## How did Clairefontaine begin? **Jean-Baptiste Bichelberger founded the Papeteries de Clairefontaine in the Vosges in the mid-19th century, and the mill has made paper since 1858.** The group's history says it went on to make stationery products as well. His great-grandson Charles Nusse started a workshop in Paris in 1928 to print and bind account registers, known for their paper and finish, and then diaries. That business, Exacompta, began what the group calls its policy of brands and quality. In 1950 Charles Nusse took charge of the Clairefontaine mill. The group says he offered schoolchildren notebooks whose paper was soft to write on and whose covers were sturdy and cheerful, unlike the poor products of the time; the Clairefontaine brand page dates the notebooks from 1951. The [Clairefontaine 1951 staplebound notebook](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/clairefontaine-1951-staplebound-notebook/) is named for that year. ## Who founded Rhodia, and why is it orange? **Rhodia was founded in September 1934 by the brothers Henri and Robert Vérilhac, sons of paper merchants, who turned their Lyon wholesale business into a maker of stapled pads.** They had opened Papeteries Vérilhac Frères in 1932, selling stationery across France and North Africa. Rhodia's press kit says the name, short and easy to remember, evokes the brand's home in the Rhône valley. The logo's two fir trees stand for the wood that makes paper and for the Dauphiné mountains the brothers came from, and the black for ink. It credits Henri's wife, Antonia, with shaping that identity. The press kit calls the orange-and-black pad a design landmark of the 1930s, with a scored cover. It doesn't say why orange was chosen. Black covers followed in 2007 and white in 2014. ## When did Clairefontaine buy Rhodia? **Clairefontaine bought Rhodia in 1997, when, Rhodia's press kit says, the brand was in difficulty.** Production left the Rhône valley and the Dauphiné for Illzach, near Mulhouse in Alsace, where the company became Clairefontaine Rhodia. The pads are still made there, in a plant dating from 1840 that employs up to 45 people, from paper milled at Étival in the Vosges. Rhodia says it makes 14 million orange pads a year, in 14 sizes and 4 rulings, and sells in more than 90 countries. Our guides cover the [Rhodia No. 16 dot pad](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/rhodia-no-16-dot-pad/), the [Webnotebook A5](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/rhodia-webnotebook-a5/) and the [Goalbook](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/rhodia-goalbook/), and compare Rhodia with [Leuchtturm1917 and Moleskine](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/rhodia-vs-leuchtturm1917-vs-moleskine/). On the Clairefontaine side, see the [Triomphe pad](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/clairefontaine-triomphe-pad/) and the [My Essential notebook](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/clairefontaine-my-essential-notebook/). ## What else does the group own? **Beyond Clairefontaine and Rhodia, the group added Quo Vadis diaries in 1999 and sells J. Herbin inks and, in the US, Stillman & Birn sketchbooks.** Its history lists a string of French paper and stationery firms bought from 1985 onward, including Papeteries Schut for art papers in 1998. Exaclair, the group's US company, says Jacques Herbin founded his Paris house in 1670 to make sealing wax and inks. The group's 2018 news describes Jacques-Herbin as a new signature from its G. Lalo company, aimed at buyers abroad. Our [Herbin Emerald of Chivor](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/herbin-emerald-of-chivor/) guide covers its best-known ink, and our [Stillman & Birn Alpha](https://stationerytimes.com/guides/stillman-birn-alpha-sketchbook/) guide the sketchbook. ## Who owns Clairefontaine and Rhodia today? **The Nusse family controls both through Ets Charles Nusse, its holding company, which owned 80.46% of Exacompta Clairefontaine at the end of 2025.** The group's 2025 annual report lists Guillaume Nusse as chairman and Frédéric Nusse as chief executive, with several other Nusse family members on the board. The rest of the shares are listed. The report gives 2025 sales of 802.5 million euros (about US$899 million), against 831.3 million euros (about US$931 million) in 2024, and 3,377 staff at the end of 2025. The group runs four paper mills with a capacity of 240,000 tonnes a year. Our [who owns which stationery brands](https://stationerytimes.com/stories/who-owns-which-stationery-brands/) story compares it with France's other stationery group, Hamelin. ## What couldn't we confirm? **The group's history page lists several takeovers without legible years, among them Everbal, Maildor, Photoweb and Biella Falken, so we left them out of the timeline.** It also doesn't give Bichelberger's founding year, only that the mill has made paper since 1858. We found no group page that dates J. Herbin's arrival; our ownership story gives 1990, which we couldn't re-confirm on the group's pages. Rhodia's press kit doesn't explain the choice of orange. ## Frequently asked questions ### Are Rhodia and Clairefontaine the same company? They are sister brands in one group. Clairefontaine bought Rhodia in 1997 and merged the pad business into a company now called Clairefontaine Rhodia, part of the Exacompta Clairefontaine group. Rhodia pads are made from paper milled by Clairefontaine at Étival. ### Where are Rhodia pads made? In France. Rhodia says its stapled pads have been made in France since 1934, and since 1997 at the Clairefontaine Rhodia plant in Illzach, near Mulhouse in Alsace, in a building dating from 1840. The paper comes from Clairefontaine's mill in the Vosges. ### Why is the Rhodia pad orange? Rhodia doesn't give a single reason. Its press kit calls the orange and black a pioneering color scheme chosen from the start in 1934, and adds black covers from 2007 and white ones from 2014, for the brand's 80th year. ### What does the Rhodia logo mean? Rhodia's press kit says the two fir trees stand for wood, the raw material of paper, and for the mountains of the Dauphiné where the two founding brothers came from; there are two because there were two brothers, and the black stands for ink. Henri Vérilhac's wife, Antonia, is credited with shaping it. ### Who owns Clairefontaine? The Nusse family, through its holding company Ets Charles Nusse, which owned 80.46% of Exacompta Clairefontaine at the end of 2025. The rest of the shares trade on the stock market, and Guillaume Nusse chairs the board. ### Is Clairefontaine paper made in France? Clairefontaine's paper is made at its mill in Étival-Clairefontaine, in the Vosges, where paper has been made since 1858. The group runs four paper mills with a combined capacity of 240,000 tonnes a year, three using virgin fiber and one recycled fiber. ### Does Clairefontaine own Quo Vadis and J. Herbin? Yes. The group's history says it took over Quo Vadis diaries in 1999. J. Herbin inks are sold by the group too; Exaclair, its US company, dates the House of Jacques Herbin to 1670, and the group's 2018 news calls Jacques-Herbin a new signature from its G. Lalo company. ## Sources - [Exacompta Clairefontaine (French): Le groupe (Bichelberger, paper since 1858; Charles Nusse, Exacompta 1928, Clairefontaine 1950; AFA 1958; acquisitions 1985–1999; four mills, 240,000 tonnes)](https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/le-groupe/) - [Exacompta Clairefontaine (French): Rhodia (Papeteries Vérilhac Frères, Lyon 1932; Rhodia pads 1934; bought by Clairefontaine 1997)](https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/rhodia/) - [Exacompta Clairefontaine (French): Clairefontaine (brand since 1951; Clairefontaine Rhodia, more than 8,500 items)](https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/clairefontaine/) - [Exacompta Clairefontaine: Rapport annuel 2025 (2025 sales 802,450 thousand euros; 3,377 staff; Ets Charles Nusse 80.46%; board; PDF)](https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Rapport-Annuel-2025.pdf) - [Rhodia (French): Dossier de presse, 90e anniversaire, 2024 (September 1934; the logo; 1997 move to Illzach; 14 million pads; 90 countries; PDF)](https://www.bloc-rhodia.com/img/DossierDePresse-90-anniversaire.pdf) - [Exacompta Clairefontaine (French): Jacques-Herbin, une nouvelle marque à la conquête du monde, April 9, 2018](https://www.exacomptaclairefontaine.fr/jacques-herbin/) - [Exaclair, Inc.: Jacques Herbin (house founded in 1670)](https://exaclair.com/brands_herbin.php)