Levenger Aluminum Circa Discs on Junior and Letter Size Bomber Jacket Covers

In April of last year, I reviewed one of my favorite Levenger accessories, their nickel Circa Discs that I used with my leather Bomber Jacket covers.   To my disappointment, by the time I reviewed them, Levenger had already discontinued them.  The review received a good number of comments, and the feedback made its way to the folks at Levenger including Levenger’s CEO Steve Leveen (Steve on Twitter) himself.  With all of the feedback, from the readers here at OfficeSupplyGeek, and I’m sure countless other emails and phone calls directly to Levenger, they decided to bring back a very similar item, which is what you are looking at in the photo above.  These are the new and improved Levenger aluminum Circa Discs that have replaced the old and discontinued nickel versions.

Levenger Aluminum Circa Discs in 3/4" and 1" Sizes

Before we get too far into this review, I wanted to just make it clear that there was no discount or any other special consideration given to me by Levenger or anyone else for the review of this product, I bought them on my own as a very happy and loyal Levenger customer.  The new Aluminum Circa Discs from Levenger have a few differences from the older nickel version but lets take a look at the new ones first.  These new aluminum versions have a very clean brushed metal look to them, and they come in both 3/4″ and 1″ sizes.  Both sizes are packaged in sets of 11, and each size is available from Levenger for $22 per set.  The discs are pretty light weight, but they seem to be very strong, so barring any harsh treatment I wouldn’t expect any dings, dents, or scratches.  While attached to my Junior Size and Letter Size Bomber Jacket covers, the discs performed very well, the pages, covers, and dividers all turn very smoothly with no snagging or catching.  The only minor issue I noticed was that there is a little bit of a squeaky sound when the plastic cutouts of the cover pass over the rings.  It isnt anything as horrifying as the nails on the blackboard sound, but just a minor almost forgettable squeaking sound as the plastic passes over the aluminum.

Levenger nickel Circa Discs (left) and Aluminum Circa Discs (right) Compared

In the photo above you can see a side by side comparison of the old 3/4″ nickel discs (left) and the new 3/4″ aluminum version (right).  The most notable difference on the new discs is a lack of the “L” on each disc, which initially bothered me, but now I think I actually like it better that way because it gives the new discs a very clean and simple look.  Another thing you will notice is that the older nickel versions have a much more glossy surface while the aluminum discs have a more flat or brushed metal look to them.  Something you can’t tell from the photo is the weight difference between the nickel

The Old Levenger nickel discs on my Bomber Jacket Covers for the before comparison.

Just for comparison’s sake, the last photo here shows my Bomber Jacket Covers with the old nickel discs, both of the discs here are the 3/4″ and I replaced them with the new aluminum ones in the larger 1″ size.  So far I like the aluminum version better now because they are slightly less flashy and shiny due to their matte or brushed finish, and they also happen to match better with my Stainless Steel Lamy Studio which I carry around in the pen loop on my letter size notebook pictured above.  If the Levenger Circa system is new to you, check out one of my earliest reviews of my Circa Bookcloth Cover notebooks.  Also, now that I have the option of going to the larger 1″ size with the aluminum versions, it gives me a little more flexibility with what I carry around with me in my daily planner and my letter size notebook.  I just really prefer the look of the metal over any of the plastic because it gives the Circa notebooks a MUCH more classy and luxurious look, and when you spend this kind of money on a notebook, you want it to look the best it can.

I (and we collectively) owe a big thanks to Steve Leveen and all of the folks at Levenger who made these new discs happen.  It was also incredibly nice, thoughtful, and impressive that the fantastic Levenger customer service folks remembered and took the time to come back here to post an update on my original review to let me know that these new ones were available.  It is the little things like that which make Levenger’s customer service stand out so much, they definitely set a standard that most other companies should strive to achieve, an it is one of the reasons (along with the quality of their product) that I continue to enjoy being a Levenger customer.

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