Rotring 600
One of the best little drafting pencils to be had for under $40 USD, the Rotring 600 has the weight and feel of more expensive draftsman pencils. It comes in either silver or black and options are lead sizes of .35mm, .5mm, or .7mm. The hexagon-shaped body is made of brass and is designed with the knurled grip end near the tip for ease of handling. The hexagonal shape of the barrel is a direct tie-in to the shape of wooden pencils.
The 600 uses small thin lead and can be found in a variety of sizes, the most common being .7mm. Historically, other sizes for the 600 mechanical pencil were .3, .5 and .9 milimeters. Originally, this fantastic ergonomic mechanical pencil was made by Rotring in Germany. But now it is manufactured by a Japanese company.
The Rotring 600 has become sort of a fan favorite over the last couple of decades. It is not exactly a sexy design, like say the Rotring Jazz rollerball pen, but rather technical looking and appealing to engineers and dare I say geeks. Currently the 600 Rotring is no longer available directly from Rotring but can be obtained from multiple other sources. An updated model, known as the Rotring Rapid Pro, is only available from Japan but can be obtained from Japanese sources here in the United States and elsewhere.
The current pencil from Japan is very similar to it’s older German sibling with the knurled grip near the tip, the hexagonal body, and brass barrel for it’s body. The cap contains an eraser and just below the cap is a smaller knurled casing that has a small window to display the lead size of the pencil.
Several years ago the German company also produced a Rotring 600 rollerball pen as well as the more sought after fountain pen and both are hard to find today. These too came with a hexagon barrel with a knurled grip at the tip and available in silver or black. The fountain pen is highly sought after as a collectible and can go for hundreds of dollars on many auction sites. The fountain pen was available with a variety of nib widths.
Another version of the 600 series is the Trio. The original Trio was again hexagonal in shape and contained a blue and red ballpoint pen and a .7mm mechanical pencil. Like the fountain pen, these older German models are highly sought after and can run more than $100 USD. I even saw one on eBay for $500. There is a new version of the Trio called the Tikky 3 in 1 Multipen. The Tikky 3 in 1 comes in either black or white. It is a nice multipen though the original is definitely the classic by which all other Rotring multipens will be compared with.
The Rotring 600 is very distinctive with its metallic hexagonal body. It is a heavy looking pen and many bloggers have written how it looks like a weapon and in a snap, could even be used as a weapon to defend yourself. Needless to say, I don’t recommend using it as a weapon. It is too beautiful a writing tool to be damaged as if it was some sort of pocket knife.
The Rotring 600 is a great little drafting tool, engineering tool, or art tool and makes a great accessory in your writing/drawing toolkit.
