Rotring Archives - BLAKE'S BROADCAST

The 900 is the only Rotring fountain pen I have ever owned. I have not been a fan of Rotring’s tool-like design nor their (generally) scratchy nibs but my 900 is an exception. The 900 is an excellent industrial design that is more in tune with Lamy’s Dialog line than drafting-pencil-look that Rotring is famous for.

The 900, like the better-known Rotring 600 fountain pen has long been discontinued. They both share the same undecorated nib and were both designed as pencils first. The Rotring 900 pencil had a very interesting “side knock” mechanism that required you to bend the pencil in the middle to advance the lead…the fountain pen’s mechanism is decidedly less interesting, with a standard cartridge/converter filling system.

The Rotring 900 has a beautiful grooved barrel and section with an unusual black clip that sort of looks like a paper clip. The grooves are deepest at the section and get shallower as they make their way down the barrel. The cap meets the section at the red ring. I believe this pen is made entirely out of machined aluminum based on its color and the way it scratches.

Capped this pen measures 15cm and weighs a hefty 37.8 grams (with converter and ink). The pen is surprising well balanced while posted and makes for a comfortable writing experience.

I am not normally a fan of metal pens as they make my fingers sweat but the combination of the grooved section and matte finish work very nicely for me.

The broad nib is a nail but it is smooth and does offer some minimal line variation. This is the first broad nib Rotring I have used but in my experience the fine and medium nibs on the half dozen or so Rotring 600s I have tried were a bit too scratchy.

I have found that the pen left uncapped for a couple of minutes will dry out, though it is easy to get flowing again. The matte finish does scratch as you can see in the picture below and I have also noticed that the cap requires a good bit of force to uncap.

The Rotring 900 isn’t really a good fountain pen (like most Rotring fountain pens) but it’s attractive design and good balance are justifiable reasons to keep it in my collection.

The Rotring Tikky Graphic is a fiber tip drawing pen that features water resistant pigment ink. The Tikky comes in seven different tip sizes with black ink only.

The Tikky features a brown body with the famous red Rotring ring. There is a translucent ink view window that continues into the feed section. I like that you can see the ink level while the pen is capped. The look of this pen is quite pleasant despite the branding. I also cannot think of another disposable pen that uses a brown body, so in that way it is unique.

Rotring is famous for making excellent quality German-made technical drawing pens and to be honest the Tikky is a letdown. While I generally like fiber tip drawing pens, the Tikky is hands down the worst I have used in recent memory.

The 0.5mm tip is not particularly smooth, resulting in a considerable amount of resistance on the Rhodia pad I used. The lines are messy and I found that my lines began and ended with what I will call “snake tongue” (see below). I found no issues with ink flow or skipping.

Rotring Tikky Graphic — Notice the “snake tongue” at the bottom of the Rs the T and the N.

I looked at the tip under a loupe to see if the tip was misshapen and I could not see any flaws; it looked perfectly formed. Even though I couldn’t see any problems with the tip, I may still have gotten a dud.

The Chinese-made Tikky costs $3.60 which is $2.30 more than the excellent German-made Steadtler Triplus Fineliner and a $1.10 more than the popular Japanese-made Sakura Pigma Micron. I cannot recommend the Tikky; a high price and poor performance do not go well together. Avoid this one.

Here is a great review of the Rotring Tikky:

(I have no affiliation with the site linked below)

The Pen Addict – Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen 0.4 mm Review

Rotring 900 Fountain Pen Quick Review

Rotring Tikky Graphic Fineliner 0.5MM Review