Rotring Pens
Founded by Wilhelm Riepe in 1928 Rotring pens got their auspicious start in Germany as a company called Tintenkuli Handels GmbH. Known primarily as a supplier of art pens for artists and writers, their fantastic design has grabbed the attention of many an everyday novice writer. Sanford acquired Rotring in 1998 which was part of Newell Rubbermaid Inc. In 2005 the decision was made to stop shipping Rotring products to the U.S. The company is currently based out of Hamburg, Germany.
The first pen was a type of fountain pen called a stylographic pen that contained a thin steel tube rather than the typical nib found on fountain pens. The company name was changed from Tintenkuli to Rotring in the 1970’s. The name Rotring was derived from rot ring, which means red ring. The Rotring pens all carry the identifiable red ring around the barrel of the pen. These pens are famous for not bleeding and allowing for the drawing of a consistent even line.
What makes the Rotring pen so desirable is the fact that they are sturdy, beautiful tools for all forms of writing, artwork, and drafting that are relatively inexpensive compared to say a Waterman fountain pen.
There are many categories of rotring pens. These pens write exceptionally well and are perfect for an engineer, an architect, a professional writer, a journal writer, or even just for everyday use as a stylish writing instrument.
Rapidographs
Rotring Rapidograph pens are meant for detailed drawings. Rapidographs are available with a variety of nib sizes and come with a cartridge that can be refilled. These pens work on almost every type of paper or medium. The first Rapidograph was introduced in 1953 and was heavily used for the next 40 years. With the coming of computer drawing programs in the 1990’s the use of these pens quickly diminished. Known for having a fat body and thin tip, these pens are easily identifiable. They come in over a dozen colors. Most recent Rapidographs are designed with pre-filled, disposable ink cartridges and because of this design, they need very little cleaning and are easy to maintain.
Isographs
Isograph pens are very similar to the Rapidograph except instead of a refillable cartridge they come with a refillable ink reservoir. This means that you do have to purchase bottles of ink to fill the reservoirs.
ArtPens
The rotring ArtPens are meant for calligraphy work and not so much as drawing pens. These artistic pens do come in a variety of sizes to give you a wide array of nib and line widths. This attractive pen also uses ink cartridges. While meant primarily for calligraphy work, this pen is also nice as a general-purpose writing instrument.
Rapid Pro
The Rapid Pro is not a pen but a mechanical pencil used by many architects and draftsmen to create highly detailed technical schematics. It has a hexagon barrel with a knurled grip that helps to maintain a firm handle on the pencil and maintain an even hand while drawing or sketching.
Tikky
The Tikky are the most common type of Rotring pen and are generally less expensive than its more precision-tooled counterparts. These writing instruments come in a variety of flavors and are designed to be thrown away when the ink and/or lead runs out. You can purchase a Tikky as a pen, as a pencil, or as a three-in-one multi-pen.