Rotring Esprit M Review

[vig2432]

Rotring generally doesn't seem to get a lot of love in FPN. Engineers and architects swear by their clutch pencils like Tikky and Isograph. Their design philosophy is minimalistic and somehow Rotring's writing instruments bring out their "germanness" better than Lamy IMO. The present model I got is a NOS Rotring Esprit in M nib. I had got this from ebay.in.

 

 

Rotring calls this colour- "Tourmaline Green". It has a nice sleek design. This is a thin pen and grip section is ribbed for better gripping. The whole pen is made up of metal(probably aluminium) and is very light

 

Some approximate measurements:

• Pen Length(capped):140mm
• Pen Length(uncapped):126mm
• Pen Length(posted):172mm
• Barrel diameter:11mm

 

 

 

The nib is very plain looking and has M written on the side of the nib and the feed is also plain looking. The nib puts down a wet M line and writes as hard as a nail.

 

 

 

The pen comes with a standard international short cartridge filled with blue ink. I am using it with a spare jinhao converter which fits very nicely with this pen. This pen is a no fuss pen which can be used for long writing sessions. Some people might be put off due to its slender nature.

 

Caveat Emptor: In India, this pen is seeing a revival of sorts. I believe a lot of NOS Rotrings were brought by Indian sellers and is now sold by many Indian sellers on ebay. I had brought this from Indian ebay for the lowest possible cost available and some people mentioned that even with lowest price available on ebay, I had overpaid by almost twice as much. The only saving grace is that the pen performs very well. So, as a word of caution for FPNers, while looking for this pen, keep in mind that most probably the prices are jacked up by unscruplous sellers.

Edited July 27, 2015 by vig2432

[Pickwick]

Very nice review with good photos. You don't mention how much you paid for it. There is one on offer on US eBay for the equivalent RS3521. How much did you pay for the one you have?

 

I bought the Rotring Initial about four years ago. It's a well engineered reliable pen. "APC System" engraved around the cap. This means the pen should still write if I happen to be on the summit of Mount Everest!

 

If your able to organize an expedition to climb it please let me know. I'd love to find out if Rotring's claim holds good!

[vig2432]

Very nice review with good photos. You don't mention how much you paid for it. There is one on offer on US eBay for the equivalent RS3521. How much did you pay for the one you have?

 

Woah.. 3521rs is a hell a lot for this pen. I paid 800rs on ebay. Its price 2 years ago was around 500rs. You could find it in some shops in India for around 600rs. Definitely no buy. If you get an offer within 15-20$, it might be a good buy

 

 

I bought the Rotring Initial about four years ago. It's a well engineered reliable pen. "APC System" engraved around the cap. This means the pen should still write if I happen to be on the summit of Mount Everest!

 

If your able to organize an expedition to climb it please let me know. I'd love to find out if Rotring's claim holds good!

 

I dont know about writing on Everest as inevitably your ink would freeze, unless the pen were insulated or made of insulating material and the properties of fluids are radically different at low temperatures and pressures. Maybe one can try it with Noodlers polar inks

 

Cheers

 

Edited July 27, 2015 by vig2432

[Pickwick]

 

Very nice review with good photos. You don't mention how much you paid for it. There is one on offer on US eBay for the equivalent RS3521. How much did you pay for the one you have?

 

Woah.. 3521rs is a hell a lot for this pen. I paid 800rs on ebay. Its price 2 years ago was around 500rs. You could find it in some shops in India for around 600rs. Definitely no buy. If you get an offer within 15-20$, it might be a good buy

 

 

I bought the Rotring Initial about four years ago. It's a well engineered reliable pen. "APC System" engraved around the cap. This means the pen should still write if I happen to be on the summit of Mount Everest!

 

If your able to organize an expedition to climb it please let me know. I'd love to find out if Rotring's claim holds good!

 

I dont know about writing on Everest as inevitably your ink would freeze, unless the pen were insulated or made of insulating material and the properties of fluids are radically different at low temperatures and pressures. Maybe one can try it with Noodlers polar inks

 

Cheers

 

 

Well that will save me a journey. I'll rest content!

[senzen]

Nice review! This looks really elegant, even the barrel is the same colour as the rest of the body; I'm seeing them for $50 on eBay... Pity I can't buy anything right now...

[RMN]

Thanks for the review.

 

I picked up a Nautic blue gift set (pen, ballpoint and pouch) last year for the price of 18 €. Looks very nice, I haven't inked it yet.

 

 

D.ick

[The Blue Knight]

I bought one in 2013 I think for £12 from an Indian seller. It was a surprise to say the least one of the smoothest nibs and most subtle yet elegant pens I've seen, Bauhaus design at it's very best. Meaning to buy another at some point as a spare.

[vig2432]

I bought one in 2013 I think for £12 from an Indian seller. It was a surprise to say the least one of the smoothest nibs and most subtle yet elegant pens I've seen, Bauhaus design at it's very best. Meaning to buy another at some point as a spare.

 

Yes, It signifies Teutonic minimalism and efficiency. A very nice design. I don't know why this pen is not more popular compared to Lamy Safari, even though Esprit is much better(IMO, ofcourse)

[subbu68]

Ha, you got at the same time as I got and for the same price. I too fitted my Jinhao converter. Nice pen in my opinion, light weight and best of all the German engineering stands out. It's like touching some electrical equipment from Siemens (I get to handle a lot of electrical equipment at project sites).

 

Thanks for the review. saved my time

[pensnproses]

Even I bought Espirit around the same time and feel like buying one again, now that I know a beauty like this would be buried by Parker.

 

One question, which convertor is compatible with this? Sheaffer or Pelikan?

[subbu68]

Even I bought Espirit around the same time and feel like buying one again, now that I know a beauty like this would be buried by Parker.

 

One question, which convertor is compatible with this? Sheaffer or Pelikan?

just plug in Camlin trinity converter if you have one. If in India Trinity costs only Rs.99.. cheaper than any standalone converter . Jinhao worked but was a bit loose

Edited September 7, 2015 by subbu68

[RMN]

Even I bought Espirit around the same time and feel like buying one again, now that I know a beauty like this would be buried by Parker.

 

One question, which convertor is compatible with this? Sheaffer or Pelikan?

 

Standard international size, so the Peikan will fit, as a host of other converters in that size, like Faber Castell, Conway Stewart, Visconti.... These are all based on the Schmidt K-series (K1, K2, K5 -- K6 is for screw-in converters)

 

 

D.ick

[pensnproses]

just plug in Camlin trinity converter if you have one. If in India Trinity costs only Rs.99.. cheaper than any standalone converter . Jinhao worked but was a bit loose

 

Thanks, using my elegante convertor on the Rotring.

[pensnproses]

Standard international size, so the Peikan will fit, as a host of other converters in that size, like Faber Castell, Conway Stewart, Visconti.... These are all based on the Schmidt K-series (K1, K2, K5 -- K6 is for screw-in converters)

 

 

D.ick

Thanks.