The Rotring Core And Rotring Primus

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I don't think it's all that often that you hear about either the Rotring Core or the Rotring Primus anymore. I think the Rotring Core has an odd sort of notoriety since not that many people were able to appreciate its odd looks. The Primus is very rarely mentioned on FPN at all. It wasn't available in the US. Anyway, when I first started using fountain pens, the Rotring Core was very easy to find in the states and quite readily available. I have always had a soft spot for Rotring, but despite this, I didn't really appreciate the distinct design of the pen. My sister really loves the Rotring Core though, and she collects them. I never appreciated the Rotring Core until someone sent me a Rotring Core Eternium which is the light apricot, light grey, and silver pen with dark steel blue grey letters on the barrel. It's quite a large pen, but due to the way the grip is designed, it's not actually unwieldy or huge in the hand. It's certainly an eccentric pen in a number of ways, but that's not to say that it isn't well-designed because it is.

The basic design of the pen is very ergonomic. The pen is well balanced, and it is designed to have minimal weight. The grip of the pen is quite special and is a grip that is really only possible with a fountain pen if one wants to use standard refills that are readily available. Ballpoint and rollerball refills are designed for pens that need more cylindrical grips. The design is done so that the fingers lie below the axis of the nib. This allows the hand and fingers to be relaxed in a lower position than the top of the nib. Basically, you can just put it in your hand, and it will sit in a proper position so to speak. I think it's a good design for beginners since it forces a beginner to hold the pen in a specific way, and allows the beginner to hold the fountain pen properly. It limits the ways one can hold the pen, and forces one to adapt a more relaxed grip. In my experience, it seems to get rid of the habit of holding the pen in a death grip since one can just rest the pointer and the thumb on top of the pen with very minimal pressure, and the pen will write. This grip design is unique in the fountain pen world. If one has never tried writing with a grip like this, I have to say that it's quite nice. Oftentimes, if I see a grip like this, I try it out the way I think the designer intended to maybe try to see what was going through their mind when they designed it. I think though that the really odd grip shape really scares off a lot of people who are used to more traditional fountain pens with cylindrical grips. I still think though that it's one of the best designs I've seen for an ergonomic fountain pen grip. And, no, I don't think I would have had the guts to admit that before. Once I wrote with this pen, I was able to adapt a more relaxed grip with my other pens.

 

In this picture, you can see how the grip is below the top of the nib. You can't do this with a rollerball or ballpoint that uses regular cartridges. The Rotring Core and Primus still take international cartridges which you can find in a lot of places.

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2864/10330432983_8d2c268088_b.jpg

As far as design aesthetics of the Core, it's certainly very eccentric. There is an ink view window, but it only tells you when you are running really low on ink and whether you have a spare cartridge or not. Why is it so high up? That's because of the fact that the threaded part of the grip section is very long and it wasn't possible to make it lower. The barrel is plastic with a metal overlay. I guess it would be interesting to note that pens with metal overlays have been around for a century, and the Core is one of the few pens that have it. The words on the barrel appear to be done using PVD on my pen in particular. The cap is solid plastic with a soft, rubbery plastic material molded around it. The clip is an odd wire clip from stainless steel. I'm not sure if it was designed to be functional, but it keeps the pen from rolling away. The entire cap is held together with an off-the-shelf stainless-steel hex head screw. I know my sister keeps a 3 mm metric allen key with her pens to take them apart for cleaning. Judging from the Cores in her collection, I think Rotring actually bought them off the shelf. It fits with the motif though. In many places, most everyone who doesn't know much about fountain pens either says, "That's a fountain pen!" or "Is that a fountain pen? Cool!" A lot of teens and younger people seem to think it looks quite cool, and I guess it's nice that it's often instantly recognizable as a fountain pen. I know my sister has gotten a lot of comments from long-time fountain pen users asking about it.

Here is a picture of the whole pen

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7338/10330462996_2e226e58ce_b.jpg

Uncapped:

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7421/10330625263_a4bcea8c51_b.jpg

Now the ink view window:

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2894/10330465416_2015823c1c_b.jpg

 

How about the Primus? The Primus is also a very eccentric pen in its own way, but it's a lot like the Lamy ABC. Both have a maple barrel over plastic and are quite light weight and well-balanced. Both also can't be posted and have a type of roll-stopper on the end of the pen. Both are also clipless and come with stickers for names. I happened to use the green sticker that came with my Lamy ABC for my Primus because I thought it looked nicer that way. There isn't too much to say except that they are very similar. You have to hold both of them in a similar way as well. Both also have companion pencils. The Primus has a 2.0 mm pencil with a click top. You unscrew the barrel and drop the lead into the pencil. The fountain pen only has a place for the sticker on the cap. The pencil has the name sticker on the end of the roll-stop just like the ABC.

Here they are together. I don't have the companion pencil for my ABC. If someone finds a red 3.15 mm one to give to me, I'll buy it from you.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3739/10330468664_89a3dc3e32_b.jpg

 

 

Moving to the filling system, these pens use international cartridges or converters. When using a converter it's important to use a new converter and dedicate it to the specific pen you are using. The connector has a more narrow diameter than a lot of other pens, so if you use a pre-used converter, it might fall off. The same is true for the Pelikan Pelikano. Also, the regular Schmidt converter doesn't fit very well. It might get stuck in the barrel. One should use Rotring converters or older international converters. The Schmidt converter has the ring on the body high enough that it doesn't fit into a lot of pens with tighter tolerances in the barrel. I have a bunch of other pens that fit other international converters but can't use the Schmidt one because of this. In any case, one of the most important things to note about the filling system is that the pen has a reserve function. This reserve function isn't seen in pens that use cartridges very often. It's mostly seen in pens with self-filling mechanisms. Some German school pens that are piston-fill have a tab under the nib for the reserve function. So, how does it work? The pen has a cartridge connector that is several mm longer than normal as well as a small piece with tabs that click into a groove in the barrel. When the barrel is unscrewed until it stops, this piece pulls the cartridge out of the grip section slightly. This allows the ink that was trapped around the cartridge connector to flow into the pen. When using the filling system, when the pen stops writing, one should unscrew the barrel until the first stop. The pen will then be able to write some more. When the pen has stopped writing, one can then slowly unscrew the barrel all the way. Often one can hear the tabs disengage from the ring in the barrel once the barrel is turned past the first stop. If one does not stop at the first stop and keeps turning the barrel, the tabs will not be able to disengage. In other words it's important to stop at the first stop. Once the barrel is off, the cartridge or converter should remain attached to the grip section. One can then reset the ink reserve function when using a converter by pushing the converter all the way in then fill the pen as normal. In the case of the cartridge, the ink reserve function is automatically reset when pushing in a new cartridge. In the second generation Core, which is a very rare pen. My sister has one, but I haven't seen another one. There is no first stop, and the grip unscrews all the way. There aren't tabs in this version, and the cartridge connector and the tail of the feed are shortened. This is a very rare variant, and I don't think any of them ever made it to the US officially. I still wonder how long it took for Rotring to figure out how to design this system. It's hard to make a system that works as reliably as this one does. When used properly, the tabs engage and disengage very predictably.

 

Here is a diagram to show how it works a little better

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5481/10330810965_37e9420908_b.jpg

Here is the pen with the barrel unscrewed to the first stop

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3710/10329720594_a6da951cbf_b.jpg

 

Here is the barrel unscrewed all the way

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7330/10329722214_7943073497_b.jpg

 

This is what the tabs are supposed to look like when the barrel is unscrewed all the way

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7395/10329745156_d2a830c699_b.jpg

 

Here is a side view. They are nearly flush against the sides of the barrel

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7302/10329909763_4d727a4068_b.jpg

 

This is how it looks when the pen is freshly refilled and the reserve function is reset

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7378/10329725764_55873e2e49_b.jpg

 

Here is a side view. You can see how the tabs stick out

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2809/10329743535_b01997712f_b.jpg

 

Here is the Core and Primus side by side. The Primus is in the reset position. The Core isn't

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5501/10330999714_1328b77e1c_b.jpg

Moving to the nib and feed, the nib is an open-clipped nib like the one on the Lamy ABC. It clips to the feed. This design also allows for the eccentric design of the grip since the nib is not held inside of the grip section. It does not slide off as easily as the Lamy nib. The nib is designed for stiffness, so if you really love stiff nibs, this is the pen to get. I really enjoy stiff nibs. The convex shape of the nib gives it a lot more rigidity than other nibs. I personally wish this nib could be offered on different pens as well. It's eccentric, but I think it's one of the best stiff-nib designs I've seen. The shape changes a lot of the feel and responsiveness of the nib on the paper. The feed is a three channeled feed with a lot of fine fins. It snaps into the grip section. It's an excellent feed, but it's not a good feed to pull because it has a long, thin, delicate tail thanks to the ink reserve function. The nib and feed are really excellently designed indeed. The Core came with XL and XS nibs while the Primus came with an A nib just like the Lamy ABC.

Here are some picture of the nibs.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3772/10331141664_2e8caf60a1_b.jpg

 

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5491/10331143794_2e73fc3a5e_b.jpg

 

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5505/10331322663_0a89b6bafa_b.jpg

 

 

In all, despite being very eccentric, these pens were designed to be great writers, and many of the features were carefully thought out. They both appear to be purpose-built to do specific things. Despite the rugged looks, I don't consider the Core to be the most durable pen. My Nakaya is a lot more scratch resistant, and the rubberized coating on the cap of this pen can get damaged. I take very careful care of my Core and don't let it hit or bump against any other pens. The Primus is about as rugged as the Lamy ABC. They are very similar pens. In any case, I think they are both excellent pens. I still use mine every day.

As for packaging, this is how it was often offered in Europe. Some later model Core pens have a plastic box instead of the cardboard one.

This is the Core packing. You get an instruction booklet, cartridge, and the pen in a nice cardboard box.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5544/10331250425_a4c07a1e79_b.jpg

 

This is the Primus packing. You get a cartridge and stickers in a triangular box.

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5545/10331238846_8673496425_b.jpg

 

 

This all said, this still makes me wonder what would have happened if Rotring made a more traditional looking pen with the ink reserve feature where one would unscrew a red ring to a stop to use the feature, then unscrew the barrel behind the red ring to remove the barrel. It might have been an interesting idea. Or maybe a more traditional-looking pen with a version of the odd grip. One must admit that the cryptic instructions included with the Core didn't do much for the ink reserve feature or any other feature in the pen. The instructions included on the box of the Primus (in full color!) explain the ink-reserve feature very well. The instructions on the Primus also describe the other features of the pen in simpler, more understandable language than the instruction leaflet included with the Core. The pen may have been more of a success if they made a bunch of companion models and took the time to highlight the unique features of the pen more carefully and perhaps made a more traditional version to appeal to regular, somewhat older fountain pen users. I also still wonder why they allowed the Core to be posted. Maybe it is to teach people not to post pens? It's the same length as the Primus, which should be decent enough to use without posting. Maybe the pen would look off if it didn't post since there isn't an excuse to put a larger piece on the end to prevent posting. I also still wonder why the Core wasn't exactly idiot-proofed since there are features that don't work as well unless one knows how to use them properly.

 

I must admit that these pens are not necessarily my normal realm in a sense. Most of the pens I have and prefer are smaller, prettier, and come with more graceful, smoother shapes, but I suppose I can still appreciate something like this. If anything, I suppose the Core does look sophisticated next to the Primus, although that's not really a word one uses with the Core. I guess Rotring had its own world with its own rules and design language. The Core stands out if you put it next to any pen, but I guess it does look more at home next to other modern German school pens.

 

Dillon

 

[rockydoggy]

Thanks for this amazingly detailed overview and especially for explaining the ink-reserve system.

I have several Cores and I'd wondered why the mechanism holding the cartridge operated the way it did.

[spotted and speckled]

Great review. I always liked the Core, a bit like the Ugly Duckling. It is a great writer.

[aenjin]

This is great, thanks for the detailed look! The Core looks like it means business. Really interesting design choices on both of these!

[grainweevil]

Fascinating - than you so much for such a detailed view of these pens. Perhaps Rotring would have done better if they hadn't put all the unusual things in one pen - perhaps the filler system and ergonomic grip in a more classical skin would have been more readily accepted by pen users? I don't know, but I do admire the innovation.

 

Cheers, Al

[renderboy]

Hehe I used to be a bit obsessed by the Rotring Core pens, I only just got them out of the cupboard to fleabay the other day! The fountain pen is like a Lamy Safari went HULK!

[mbankirer]

I have 2 Cores. Both ugly! But both great writers, reliable!

[doggonecarl]

Great post. Especially the explaination of the reserve function. Thanks. Wonderful pictures too.

 

I love Rotrings and a Core was one of the first ones I bought. I have the Core in both the XS nib and the XL (bold). The XL writes with a subtle stub-like quality--nice line variation. Funky looking but so comfortable to write with.

Edited October 22, 2013 by doggonecarl

[Dillo]

A lot of the XL nibs seem to have a slight stubbish quality. All of the ones I've used including the pen in the review above, have slight line variation. The A and the XS nibs don't really have as much. The A has no noticeable line variation. It's a very rounded nib. Like Most A nibs, it's a KMF and makes very distinct round-ended lines.

 

Dillon

[bugmd]

About 10 years ago I bought a couple of dozen of the Primus and resold them/gave them away to fellow collectors. Still have a couple of them. Such a neat school pen. Thanks for the reviews.

[cmalanis]

This is a remarkable piece of information. I have a couple of Core's and have seen a few others pass by. I never got the idea for those little tabs, I know they pulled the cartridge out a bit... but I thought it was a "release" mechanism to help pull it out (... and I thought it was ridiculous). Although I dont find much utility for this mechanism for me... I have to admit it is clever and well designed!!

 

Great article! (and good pics too!)

 

enjoy!

[Sailor Kenshin]

Excellent review! I love how my Core looks, amd its XS nib, but the section defeats me.

[cybaea]

Thanks for this and for all the detail!!

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Thank you all for reading. I very much enjoyed writing this review. That said, Sailor, have you tried using a tripod grip with the pen? (middle under the round part, pointer on one flat and thumb on the other flat). I think the pen encourages one to examine how they hold their pen and play around with their grip.

 

Dillon

[Sailor Kenshin]

Hi,

 

Thank you all for reading. I very much enjoyed writing this review. That said, Sailor, have you tried using a tripod grip with the pen? (middle under the round part, pointer on one flat and thumb on the other flat). I think the pen encourages one to examine how they hold their pen and play around with their grip.

 

Dillon

I don't think I have. Waiting for some PR carts, so I might load up and give it a whirl.

 

I could never figure out what those little orange thingies were, so thanks for that, too.

[CapeClear]

Great review. I'm still on the hunt for a new Core of my own. My first and only Core was nicked from my desk at my old job. Sad days.

[Dillo]

I don't think I have. Waiting for some PR carts, so I might load up and give it a whirl.

 

I could never figure out what those little orange thingies were, so thanks for that, too.

No problem. They did a really poor job of explaining anything in the instructions that came with the Core, so most people didn't have any idea what the orange thing did either.

 

Dillon

[calvin82]

Thanks for all the details review. Rotring is nice product. Unfortunately, nowadays it has becoming harder to find.

[CapeClear]

OP you spurned me on. Purchased a Red Rubidium Core at a sort of yard sale this morning. Wrecked box but pen never used. €15!

[Dillo]

CapeClear, enjoy the pen!

 

Dillon