Rotring Lissabon

[judge]

I have seen it and I wonder how does it compare to other rotrings?

 

what is its pros? its cons?

 

history?

[Stephen-I-am]

I have one. Nice nib, and it's a better looking pen than a core, but then again that's a low hurdle to clear.

 

It's a heavier pen, too heavy for me, and a bit of a dry writer. The cap doesn't post too well.

 

Stephen

[rustynib]

Does anyone know why is called LISSABON ?

 

Can anyone post detailed photos ?

 

Lissabon is Lisboa in german...and being potuguese I wonder...

 

rusty

[judge]

got mine the other day, looked fine, personally I like the weight...it reminded me of a nice DE razor (having some substance to it). I bought a converter for it--the universal rotring one was a little too long and the shop owner took out his pocket knife and trimmed it down (gotta love Texas). Filled it with Aurora blue and it writes smooth as silk. I wonder how it will do with other ink like noodlers b/c

 

tempting to go get another one now. (not sure why but it may make a good gift)

[pilgrim]

Can anyone post detailed photos ?

hope these help

 

with pelikan 200

 

I love this pen! small but heavy, all metal, metal feeling, average nib, standard cartridges ...

 

[judge]

and with a converter its smooth running. i do like the all metal aspect.

[Braxfield]

I have in my possession a black Lissabon with a medium nib. As you can see from the foregoing pictures, it's a compact little thing, and heavy for its size, weighing in at 34g loaded and unposted. I don't care to post pens, unless absolutely necessary and with the Lissabon, unless you have hands of a giant, it isn't. The nib is marked Iridium Point Germany. Who knows what that actually signifies in this case. Some people are sniffy about such nibs. I find this particular one to be very nice to write with. I find it neither wet nor dry but rather just right. I'm curious to know how and why a Rotring pen came to be issued without a Rotring nib. I'm curious about many things about the Lissabon; even the name. When I think of the city of Lisboa I think of spies. There is something of the spook about this little pen, come to think of it, but I don't know if that's what Rotring (or Sanford, I suppose, by 2000), had in mind when the pen was designed.

 

What I DON'T have is much info about the pen itself. Short of digging up Rotring annual catalogs, and visiting elderly pen executives in nursing homes (which I'll do if I have to) can anyone point me in the direction of a reliable source of information on this pen? In German or English, I don't mind.

 

I've seen the Rotring Lissabon in the wild in Black, matte silver, and (I think) chrome finish. I don't know if it came in other colors. I saw a Racing Green Lissabon once, but that was in a dream. As others have noted, it does not seem to have been marketed in the US. You don't seem to see a lot of used pens around either.

 

As for the famous "Fountain Pen of the Year" business, even that seems to be shrouded in mystery. I'm hoping someone can tell me what that is all about. I trailed that in another forum a few days ago but without much luck.

 

As I say, I'm very happy with my Lissabon. It's an oddball, a one-off, more ugly duckling than black swan (although to my eyes there is nothing ugly about it). Above all else, it is a pen of mystery.

Edited March 10, 2019 by Braxfield

[Aysedasi]

I've owned two and they both wrote poorly. Very dry. But it's another of those aesthetically pleasing pens that I might even try again - but can you swap out the nib for another? What size is it?

[Theroc]

I had one for a while. The full chrome version. I always wondered if it was part of a trend/campaign of rOtring's with city names. There's one other Rotring, that I know of, named after a city; the New Orleans. However, the New Orleans at least has a Rotring nib. The Lissabon does not. Notoriously, its an IPG nib. The only Rotring pen, I know of, that does not have a Rotring-branded nib.

[Braxfield]

The Lissabon is an anomaly in terms of Rotring's output. One reviewer, I remember, considered it rather half-baked, with a nib that didn't fit properly and the whole thing rather fish nor fowl. Both pen that I have write rather well, but I don't doubt that not everyone has had that experience. Perhaps I was simply lucky. I have only ever tested two of the things.

 

Unfortunately it is very difficult to get real background on many pen types. The information that is "out there" is often a mixture of marketing and anecdote. Who know what Rotring set out to achieve with the Lissabon (or indeed the "City" pens in general. Did they succeed in what it was the hoping to achieve. Probably not. The Lissabon seems to have a short life and never reached America. The reasons for this are shrouded in the past, known only to a few, and probably lost forever to the rest of us.