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visual guide to the Rotring 600 http://i.imgur.com/WezqgwI.jpg From left to right: 2nd Gen Rollerball, 2nd Gen 18k Gold Nib, 1st Gen Steel Nib. As most of you already have seen plenty of images of the Rotring itself I'm going to concentrate on the differences between the three basic generations. Getting written information about these pens is really difficult because the company got bought by Sanford 1998 and most information of former times was lost or destroyed. Because of those somewhat murky waters I'm gonna refrain from trying to exactly date the generations http://i.imgur.com/gnTbQ27.jpg 1st Generation: No printing on the cap or body, deep knurling, bevel above red ring 50% of height. Was only available in steel, nib indicator has no "L" setting. 2nd Generation: Rotring 600 printed on the cap, not as deep knurling, bevel above red ring 30% to 70% straight. Rollerball and Gold version available 3nd Generation: Rotring 600 printed on the cap, different color used (RAL 3001), deep knurling, bevel above red ring 50% of height, cap is slightly bigger then 1st and 2nd generation. Rollerball and Gold version available. If you find a 2nd or 3rd gen without printing that means it was initially sold via the Rotring branch that sold promotional items to be printed with the promoting company's logo. 4th Generation: USA only, imported by levenger, produced to theire specs in Japan. Not much information available. 4th Gen Second Wave has Levenger printed on the side. Additional silver holding lugs protrude from the grip The mechanism for holding the cap changed too over the years, but there was a cross over period, so there are 1st Gen Caps with 2nd Gen holding caps: http://i.imgur.com/GFRj6Dt.jpg Difference in height http://i.imgur.com/z1iccbZ.jpg Nibs: EF, F, M, OM, B, OB, BB, L (L only starting 2nd Gen), all were available as gold or steel http://i.imgur.com/oVn0dpW.jpg Notice the difference in knurling? Generations from left to right: 1,2,1,2,2,3 Accessories http://i.imgur.com/yy5wHzQ.jpg Top: 4 pen gift case Bottom: 2 pen gift case http://i.imgur.com/AVEm8cW.jpg Holder for ink bottle http://i.imgur.com/1cr71Ie.jpg 2 Pen leather case http://i.imgur.com/xCNB6w1.jpg 4 pen leather case For the grand finale, a few things I've seen people getting wrong: This is not a Rotring 600 http://i.imgur.com/sFUC0cW.jpg This is a Rotring Newton. Although it looks quite similar, it has almost nothing to do with the 600 Series. Because the first run wasn't succesful in terms of sales this was meant to appeal to a broader market. Was mildly more succesful, ran until 1998 when Rotring was bought by Sanford. Sanford initially continued sale but most likely was just selling of old stock. Was removed from catalogue in 2004. This is not a Rotring 600 "Prototype" This is a Rotring Lambda. I've seen a few labeled as 600 Prototype, but they're not. Are about 10 years younger then the 600. Only produced as promotional item. You could get them printed with your name (or what you wanted, made to order) on at a large warehouse chain in Germany. http://i.imgur.com/xoKw8IT.jpg Feel free to ask me anything you want to know about the Rotring 600 and its versions or other Rotring Pens or even Rotring in general. If you want pictures of something in particular, don't hesitate to ask me. Please excuse my grammar and writing, english is my third language. Feel free to point out errors to me!

Recently in Nostalgialand (or was it Yawnville?), I came across these (at least) 20 years old cartridges that came back from my past to haunt me: Back in the days, before Internet, there wasn't much I could find in my small city. Standard Royal blue was the ink you were using in school, and buying at the supermarket. Waterman, or Reynolds, to go with their (sadly now long gone) striped ink eradicators (the very one we were turning into pressurized blowguns once dry). Serious people were using black or blue-black, and cool teenagers were using Turquoise. But when Waterman, Faber-Castell, Parker and Lamy were just lame, standard everyday inks, what was left to try at my small stationery store? Rotring. I wasn't aware of Japanese inks at that time, and there was no Mont-Blanc boutique in the city (but were Mont-Blanc inks as fancy as they are today? I have some period correct MB black and it's everything but fancy). So Rotring it was for me. When I felt like rebelling against teachers asking for Royal Blue, I used Ultramarine, which is just a bit purpler. Such a stealth ink at school! The satisfaction of flying under the radar unnoticed was totally making it up for its lack of "erasability". Rotring Royal Blue was just another basic washable blue, but the cute yellow cartridge tips was making up for the inflated price, compared to Waterman from the supermarket. And then there was Brilliant black... For me at that time that was THE luscious black, so dark, smoother than other inks, and it was drying as a real super dark and shiny black. I was in love, and was indulging in Rotring Brilliant black as much as I could, writing letters with it, always keeping a pen inked with it (for me that pen was a Rotring Artpen EF - I only had like 3 or 4 pens at that time). So when I discovered a long forgotten stash of these old relics at my mother's house, I decided I had to revisit the past. That small box of Waterman South sea blue, I had bought it just because I once met that girl I had a huge crush on at the stationery store, and she bought one box so of course I had to buy one too! It's still full today, and I still remember her now. She became a doctor, I should have married her The problem is, modern me didn't have any fancy enough (or so I decided at that time) pen that accepts international cartridges. I still have the EF Artpen, but fancier I wanted. And then I had a brilliant idea! Or so I thought. A Platinum President in EF, coupled with these: The Platinum international cartridges adaptors. Except my oh so brilliant plan (or how to justify buying a Platinum pen because I had international standard cartridges to use, the chocolate and bread tale) was flawed from the start: A long international cartridge (here Pelikan 4001 red, bought in Germany with a long gone Pelikan school pen in matching red) doesn't fit! I had wanted to try a few basics and keep Rotring Brilliant black for the end, as it was the one ink I had the strongest memories of, but now I couldn't hold it anymore, and popped a Rotring cartridge in the President (after having reconstituted what evaporated along the years with distilled water - I know we should add more than that, alcohol, preservatives, etc). Such deception. While it was still a reasonable dark black, modern inks have improved so much that it wasn't the "slap in the face" black it used to be for me. Still a nice shiny black, but Waterman or Lamy black improved too, and are not that far. Probably Pelikan 4001 black too (never tried this one). And the lubrication was a bit low for that feedbacky Platinum EF. Back in the Artpen the cartridge went. Compared to the Platinum, the Rotring EF feels like a generous M! But makes these "old" inks feel more comfortable. So that's it, never meet your idols. Since I restarted with fountain pens, I had kept that Rotring Brilliant black ink in mind - I think it was the one ink that started it all for me. Had it been for Waterman or Reynolds Royal blue only, or Parker washable blue (or black-green!) I would probably not be using fountain pens today. I'm glad I was able to try it again, seeing with my old eyes differently what I remembered from a teenage perspective. I wonder who made the Rotring inks. Probably many different subcontractors, as some are made in Germany and some later cartridges in France (after the Sandford buyout in 1998 I guess). Maybe it's just Pelikan 4001 black, that I never even bothered trying back in the days (on my wish list today). Maybe it's some sort of mystery mixture between Pelikan 4001 black and Pelikan Fount India? I'll never know.

Had this pen in a draw for years, finally got a convertor for it. The nib is a medium but for me, writes more like a fine. The ink flow is sweet, the pen is well balanced as well as being properly engineered. Anyone else have experience or opinions of this pen?

The pictures speak for themselves... While changing cratridges the way the manual says, the tip and feed got stuck. Too afraid to use brute force. Any help?

I have been collecting writing instruments for a few decades and currently have about 300 of them in my collection. They are mostly vintage, and a few new ones. I try to follow technical evolution as themes of my collection such as filling mechanisms, nib characteristics, materials, etc. I recently became interested in pocket fountain pens and I really don`t have much knowledge about them, so I propose to start with what I know and perhaps members of the community can contribute. There are examples of writing instruments of the Victorian Era, that were meant to carry in pockets or pouches, such as telescopic mechanical pencils, dip pens or combination instruments. At the turn of the Century Safety fountain pens came about, in an attempt to prevent ink spillage when carried in a pocket or pouch. For the most part, these pens were of large size for a pocket. For the purpose of this discussion, I would like to propose the following definition. A pocket fountain pen is one that is short enough to fit in a pocket comfortably and by some means it is enlarged to become comfortable for writing. To my knowledge, there are to methods to achieve this purpose. 1 - Pens with a short barrel and long cap and long section. The threads of clutch ring where the cap engages with the barrel is at the end of the long section, so when capped they are short enough to pocket and when posted they become long enough to fit in the hand. 2 - Telescoping fountain pens. The first example of short barrel and long cap that I am aware of is the Kaweco Sport, that appeared in this format in the 1930's as a piston filled fountain pen with a matching mechanical pencil. Since the pencil doesn't require a cap, the concept doesn't apply to it and it ends up being just a short pencil. This pen is 4" capped and 5.5" posted. In the 1960's in Japan Sailor Pilot and Platinum started offering beautiful renditions of short / long fountain pens. The Japanese development of these pens is covered in depth in Richard Binder's e-book Japanese Pocket Pens. Below I show a Pilot Elite and a Pilot MYU from my collection. While telescopic dip pens where common in the late 19th Century, the first telescopic I am aware of is the Pilot telescopic fountain pen in the 1960's. There are probably earlier ones. In the mid 2000's, rOtring came out with telescoping fountain pens, mechanical pencils and ballpoints, the model Esprit Mini, which is currently produced by Parker. I am sure there is much more to this story than what I was able to present here.

In just few minutes www.rotringmuseum.com will be open. Welcome!

Hi. just wondering if anyone can assist in determining if this rotring 600 mechanical pencil shown attached is german manufactured or japanese made?? thanks

Hello. I need some help in identifying a Rotring 600 pen that I acquired recently. It is in near mint condition with a wet bold nib. I think I got a great deal. I am curious about the model year and the following attributes: 1. The pen does not have the "Rotring 600" logo in red color on the cap. 2. It does have knurls and the section "bumps" to lock the cap. 3. Has a "Germany" mark on the side of the clip and "Rotring" signature on the side of the nib. Calling out Rotring 600 experts for some more info. Thank you.

The next set of pens in this series come from Tombow and Rotring. They are what seems to be an early Tombow Zoom 101 and a non-telescoping Rotring Espirit. The Epirit predates the absorption of Rotring by Sanford. Both pens are no longer in production. I purchased the Espirit in 2009 and the Zoom 101 in 2007. https://imgchr.com/i/1jszYd">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1jszYd.md.jpg" alt="1jszYd.jpg" border="0" /> The pens share little in external appearance although both are thin compared to many pens on the market. The Rotring is made from anodized aluminum and consistent with the companies sleek functional aesthetic. The Tombow is made from what appears to be painted brass with a plastic grip section in the center of the barrel. The clips on both pens are steel. The Rotring cap is pulled off while the Tombow screws off. The Tombow is unusual in that one can change the cartridge without removing the cap while the Rotring has conventional access to the cartridges. The grip on the Tombow is high on the barrel which seems odd at first, but is nice in the hand. The machined ridges on the Rotring also make it sit nicely in the hand. https://imgchr.com/i/1jy29A">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1jy29A.jpg" alt="1jy29A.jpg" border="0" /> https://imgchr.com/i/1j6Vu6">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1j6Vu6.md.jpg" alt="1j6Vu6.jpg" border="0" /> https://imgchr.com/i/1j6pEF">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1j6pEF.md.jpg" alt="1j6pEF.jpg" border="0" /> https://imgchr.com/i/1vVH8P">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1vVH8P.md.jpg" alt="1vVH8P.jpg" border="0" /> One can see that asides from the decoration on the nibs, they are identical. In speculating about where the nibs come from, I think that Rotring made the nibs for Tombow or they get the nibs from the same third party OEM. I lean towards the nib being made by Rotring as it features on many of the company’s pens of this period. Tombow also was linked to the Herlitz nibs I examined in the first post in this series, so I doubt Tombow made the nibs for Rotring. Tombow has a history as supplier of a portfolio of stationary supplies, so fountain pens were just another item to complete the product list. Rotring was a more focused niche player and fountain pens played a larger role in the product range. I hope you enjoyed the article and I look forward to your comments. If you know more about this style of nib, please share your knowledge. Thanks for reading.

Hello, new member here. Although I do use fountain pens regularly, mainly a Lamy 2000 with a Fine nib, I'm more fond of mechanical pencils, specially the ones with interesting mechanisms and "quirks and features" as Doug DeMuro would say. I'll start uploading here if anyone's interested, and, if you'd like to see more photos, I post regularly on my Instagram focused on stationery (@mchpncl). Here's my beat up 800. I've been using it on a daily basis for around 4 years now, and I'm always carrying it in my pocket. I hope you guys enjoy the macro photos!

Just a couple of days ago, I missed out on a very good deal. It's a fountain pen version of the Rotring 600, that in itself is something to look out for, but this one seems particularly interesting. The pictures aren't really clear, and the lighting could be much better, but this seems to be a silver version with black trim? A silver barrel with black ends and section. Something I've never seen before. Upon closer inspection, the Rotring logo is colored black as well, and it's missing it's characteristic red ring? My best guess is that it's a very worn down black one, or perhaps intentionally polished to remove the black paint? But maybe there is such color combination out there? Does anyone know? http://rabingosal.com/archive/Rotring_600_black_trim.jpg Whichever it is, misssing out on a $15 Rotring 600 fountain pen is still makes for a sad day...

I recently purchased set of Variant(discontinued), Isograph and Rapidograph pens. All still working It got me thinking, how many people are still using these and which do you prefer the Isograph or Rapidograph?

I have just seen the review of the Rotring Surf pen on Youtube. It looks like a basic pen, with a smooth nib. Does anyone have this pen? If yes, then how cool is it? Here, have a look at the full review first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEM_gAsrMm4

Dear Forums, I own a Rotring Core, seen as the top-most pen in this photograph. Unfortunately, the section is cracked! The thin plastic wall with the threads has a crack that is making its way around it, and I don't know what to do. Has anyone fixed anything like this? Here's an image of it completely disassembled. Thanks, Tom

I finally purchased a Rotring 600, it is a levenger branded model that falls into the transition between series 1 and 2. It has knurling and cap retention springs. It is currently fitted with a Fine nib and I would like to swap in an Extra Fine nib. I've found other posts describing models that fit each revision but I haven't come across anything specifically about he transitional model. Will the nib from the Artpen EF sketching model fit (is this a normal EF nib)? I've also seen Esprit nibs listed on Ebay German, would those work? Thanks for your time.

I just bought a Lamy 2000 with medium nib in an old book/stationary store that has a few vintage pens with very old prices and probably have been stored for decades. Got the lamy for 45€ because the old owner had no clue about today's value ... lucky me! He also had a few Rotring fountain pens that I've never seen and can´t find any picture of them on the internet. They are all black and looks like plastic, The cap has a diagonal cut and no clip and the bottom of the barrel is pointed and has a normal size (not long like a deskpen). Between the barrel and the section the pen narrows in a curve to give it a comfortable grip. It's like the shape of a Parker Urban but the narrow part is closer to the section. The nib is a normal steel M nib and looked like a #6 or perhaps a bit bigger. It takes standard international cartridges or converter (not sure if that fits because of the pointed barrel. I didn´t dare to ask to take a picture ... because I thought I'd find it easily on the internet. The old owner said they were also vintage pens like the Lamy 2000 and valued the pens around 25 euros ... which seems to me extremely cheap for a Rotring ... Any idea of what Rotring model this pen could be?

Hi, I have an old but hardly used (and excellent) condition Rotring 600 Newton LAVA edition Rollerball and 0.7mm pencil. These pens were made by Rotring in the 90s, and seem to have been discontinued since then. I am using FPs now, so I am open to selling/trading them. Is there any interest in this group for this pen? I don't want to deal with eBay, if possible. I wanted to check with the non-FP enthusiasts/members. Please PM/reply if you have questions Thanks

Hello to all! So glad to finally have a profile here. I've read threads on this site so many times to help answer my questions, and I figured it was finally time to engage actively and make connections. I have always been a fountain pen lover, but have only recently started collecting, first with Rotring and more recently Sheaffer'S. I have some oddities I would love to post photos of to get advice with dating or just answer general "why does my pen look like this!?" kinds of questions. I'll also post photos of my "Follow the Dot" Sheaffer'S collection at some point, still not complete (and perhaps I'll find help there also!) Thanks again for all the help in the past, and it's good to be here to hopefully give back. Matt

Hi Everyone, I have been reading this forum for awhile. I can find great reviews here for what I am really grateful. This time however I have an issue I need help with. My 1st ever fountain pen was a Rotring ArtPen EF nib. Recently the cap falls off & due to its "outfit" I cannot use at everyday's work - on the other hand I really-really love its nib (no wonder - I used it 8+ years only! for writing). Could you please support me what is the size of the nib, or with which pens I could exchange the nib? I tried several EF pens to substitute this nib (Pilot, Hero, Parker) but no luck yet - so it would be great if I could use this one. Thank you pszabi

Does anyone know anything about this multi-pencils existence? http://davesmechanicalpencils.blogspot.com/2007/04/rotring-trio-pencil.html Been scouring the internet and decided to stop here. If anyone has one that they would part with that would be immensely appreciated

hello - I have a mid-1990s vintage Rotring 600 fountain pen with F nib that I love. The cap on this pen has always required a bit of a twist to get it to "lock" after capping it. Over the years, the cap has become looser, and today I noticed that when I cap it (after the twist), it pops back open again (and shoots the cap across the desk, in fact). It no longer stays capped. It appears the brass in either the cap has loosened, or the nubs on the barrel that lock into the receivers on the cap have worn down. I don't see anything up in the cap. Is there any repair for this? Thanks - MM *EDIT - I just got it closed. But it's a pretty tenuous hold.

Hello, I'm am new to this forum. I bought a Tintenkuli and would like some information on it. I have read a post from this website about the history of the pen, but would like to find some instructions. So far I have seen some pictures of the original instructions on eBay but they are in German. I am sure it is a piston driven pen becaus there is a twist knob at the end of the pen. How does that work? Where the ink go in through? The tip or just behind the tip? Any info would help. Please point me in the rite direction. I would appreciate it. Thank you

It's time for another Ink Giveaway PIF! I am giving away most of a bottle of Rotring Persian Red ink. Rotring no longer makes bottled fountain pen ink, so this ink has been out of production for some time. The ink was originally packaged in a bottle with a fill spout, that could fill a converter directly from the bottle (I will attempt to attach a photo). The cap has cracked, so I was forced to transfer the ink to some small jars, which is the way you will receive it. Each jar holds 15ml, and there are about one and a half jars of ink. Here are the rules: 1) United States only. 2) Winners of my previous PIFs (Levenger and OMAS inks) are not eligible for this PIF. 3) Everyone who posts on this thread saying they want the ink through Tuesday, January 3, 2017 is eligible. 4) On January 4, 2017 I'll post here to close the PIF and everyone ahead of me in the thread will be entered. I'll select a winner using the random number generator at random.org. I'll list the winner here, and contact them via PM to set up shipment. 5) You can enter as many of my PIFs as you want, but you can win only one. In the event the same FPN member wins two PIFs, I'll ask you to choose which you want. I'll draw another name to win the other prize. 6) I will ship to the winner for free, in exchange for a letter or postcard from you containing handwritten samples of your five favorite ink colors. Or, you can pay for shipping, whichever you prefer. (I will ship via USPS). 7) Winners who don't respond to my PM within three days after close of the PIF will forfeit their winning. I'll draw again to find another winner. Bottle: http://i.imgur.com/pdEvvxx.jpg Writing Sample: http://i.imgur.com/GuZhWsh.jpg

Hi! I'm a student from Jakarta, Indonesia I love pens and any kind of stationary, for that matter. I like fountain pens, and do own and use many of them, but what I'm really into are drafting stationaries (pencils, technicals pens, and such) and other stuff of a technical nature. I just love admiring the technical looks and straight lines of the pens and pecils like the Rotring 600. Aside from pens and pencils, I like cutters too, I wonder if there is a site like this too for that? Unfortunately, Indonesia is not really a good country for this hobby. Available brands of fountain pens are very limited and it gets worse when it comes to drafting pencils... And the stuff that's available in the general stationary stores are mostly quite expensive ones, which I can't really afford. I'm grateful, though, that now, starting this year, I can see the Rotring 600s and 800s with my own eyes in the bookstores. I looks like there's hope for me after all! It's worth noting that here the fountain pen is a rather unusual thing to write with. You see a few them in bookstores, but to see someone actually writing with it is very rare. We're not taught to use them is schools, like some other countries, from what I've read.

hi folks! I just found my mom's rOtring Newton lying around, but on inspection, neither I nor my parents could open it. any thoughts? I'd like to be able to use this thing. I'm just hoping it hasn't rusted to hell in the past ~10 years...thanks in advance!