Rotring 600

[bruceclay]

I'm tempted by reports of the lava ones, also, but I'm a little hesitant.

 

A couple of photos comparing the black and lava here (also the "Newton" but don't be fooled... it's a perfectly nice pen but it's no 600)

 

 

The new Newton is a travesty and a dissapointment. It has no right to carry the 600 name and is cheaply designed and constructed.

 

Further dissapointment is that it wont accept the Rotring convertor.

 

Rotring's founders are surely rolling in thier graves (assuming they are no longer living ) that this item carries the red ring!

[oberon]

I have an old style in black with the knurled section and an OB nib (soon to become a B stub) and it is my favorite field pen for writing and sketching.

Oberon

[Splicer]

(also the "Newton" but don't be fooled... it's a perfectly nice pen but it's no 600)

 

The new Newton is a travesty and a dissapointment. It has no right to carry the 600 name and is cheaply designed and constructed.

 

Further dissapointment is that it wont accept the Rotring convertor.

 

Rotring's founders are surely rolling in thier graves (assuming they are no longer living ) that this item carries the red ring!

 

I agree that it's no 600, but then it does not carry the 600 name, so why get worked up?

 

Dr. Riepe should be rolling over due to most of the decisions made for Rotring by Rubbermaid, but I like my Newton just fine. It's right up there with Rotring's other midrange pens (New Orleans, Lissabon—the latter being a nice writer with a brass barrel but a Rotring blasphemy by being fitted with a Chinese IPG nib) and it's a lot nicer than the Rive or Rivette.

 

I've never had trouble fitting the converter to the Newton. Or do you mean it's a standard international converter?

[Pippin60]

I actually like black better than silver, but the point about the industrial appearance is well taken. My favorite 600 is the "lava" version though. Folks seem to like the old style best, but they didn't make those in lava and I'm of the opinion that the refinements of the second generation of 600s were improvements. Note here that I'm in the minority on this issue.

 

I prefer the black. All of my series one 600's are black.

 

[glamourdoll]

I own (and love) my Rot 600 in black. The only place I know of to buy a brand-new one is online, at montgomerypens, to the tune of $150.

 

Lily

[bruceclay]

(also the "Newton" but don't be fooled... it's a perfectly nice pen but it's no 600)

 

The new Newton is a travesty and a dissapointment. It has no right to carry the 600 name and is cheaply designed and constructed.

 

Further dissapointment is that it wont accept the Rotring convertor.

 

Rotring's founders are surely rolling in thier graves (assuming they are no longer living ) that this item carries the red ring!

 

I agree that it's no 600, but then it does not carry the 600 name, so why get worked up?

 

Dr. Riepe should be rolling over due to most of the decisions made for Rotring by Rubbermaid, but I like my Newton just fine. It's right up there with Rotring's other midrange pens (New Orleans, Lissabon—the latter being a nice writer with a brass barrel but a Rotring blasphemy by being fitted with a Chinese IPG nib) and it's a lot nicer than the Rive or Rivette.

 

I've never had trouble fitting the converter to the Newton. Or do you mean it's a standard international converter?

 

OK I'll try to warm up to it. In fact I'll carry it tomorrow!

 

The convertor I referring to is made by Rotring and says "art pen" on the box. I have detirmined that the diameter of the center metal portion is why it wont fit.

 

I would like to get a convertor that does fit. Where should I look for one?

 

The whole "600" thing is becaue of Ebay I suppose as when you search for "600 fountain" You get the "Rotring Newton 600" mixed in with a lot of the "real" 600s

Edited February 9, 2009 by bruceclay

[Splicer]

OK I'll try to warm up to it. In fact I'll carry it tomorrow!

 

The convertor I referring to is made by Rotring and says "art pen" on the box. I have detirmined that the diameter of the center metal portion is why it wont fit.

 

I would like to get a convertor that does fit. Where should I look for one?

 

The whole "600" thing is becaue of Ebay I suppose as when you search for "600 fountain" You get the "Rotring Newton 600" mixed in with a lot of the "real" 600s

 

Okay, I have trouble remembering which converters go with which Rotrings, but I think that the ArtPen converters don't go with the others. If it's the diameter of the center, that's probably the problem. It likely needs a standard international converter or the old Rotring converter, whichever one the ArtPen isn't. Yes, the different converters for different pens is an annoyance. Some day I'll make a chart of which go with which.

 

The name confusion is (I think) a rather slimy thing that Newell/Rubbermaid did, taking a good, top quality pen called the 600 and renaming it the "Newton 600" then discontinuing the top quality "Newton 600" and releasing a medium-quality pen called the Newton. It was a set of moves designed to trick people into paying more for a lesser quality pen. Your characterization of the Newton as a disappointment is pretty common among people who expected to see a newer, better 600. I thought "travesty" was taking it too far, but "disappointment" is just about exactly right. The Newton is a good pen, but the 600 is a great pen.

[Souldrifter]

As many have said, depends on your personal preference.

 

My first Rotring 600 was a Series 1 (gnurled grip... all my Rotrings are Series 1) in silver, with the 18k gold EF nib. I love that thing to bits. I ended up getting silver because I wanted the 18k EF nib which wasn't available at the time in the black finish.

 

Then, I thought, well.. since I like this one so much, why not get a black one, even if with a different nib? So, I did, with an OM nib.

 

Then I found out that they made matching mechanical pencils! I needed something a little sturdier that was also a change from the seafoam green Sanford Logo IV I'd been carrying around for a decade. And I found it in the Rotring 600 mechanical pencil... which I picked up in black, along with the tikki eraser thing...

 

I'm telling you, either I have mild OCD or Rotrings are just addicting. I recently found a 2mm lead holder which I had shipped from Japan, just so I could use it as my primary sketching pencil. I thought my Rotring 600 MP was the end all, be all too... until I found the Rotring 800 MP

 

Help? :ltcapd:

[JayLo]

Since I am the owner of a black, silver and lava 600, I'd say you need all 3! In any order. The lava was hard to find though.

[mana]

My preference is 1st gen and black. I do admit that the silver ones would go nicely with a new Macbook Pro...

 

Btw. I love the worn out look of that 1st gen 600 on that flickr picture, it really looks like a tool that has been lovingly used (like all tools should be instead of being kept on a shelf pristine or abused and rendered broken). That fountain pen has seen life and it is just beautiful that it shows.

 

But yeah, those 600 series rOtrings are addicting... I currently have .5 and .9 mm mechanical pencils and three fountain pens (all 1st gen and black). And still I think I need more! Talk about being bitten by the bug...

 

Joining this forum has not helped the issue, older Parker Vacumatics seem more and more mesmerizing as days go by... and Montblancs too, funny that...

[bruceclay]

I thought "travesty" was taking it too far, but "disappointment" is just about exactly right. The Newton is a good pen, but the 600 is a great pen.

 

 

LOL!

 

Thanks for a good laugh this morning Splicer. I appreciate your perspective and you are absolutely correct.

 

My dissapointment was accentuated by the hope that I could find a replacement for my cherished old style 600s.

 

I now have three pens on order for which I have no such pre-disposed expectations. These are the pens that I have learned about here on FPN.

 

One is the Reform 1745, second is the Pilot Cavalier and third the Pirot Custom 74 each in fine or extra fine.

Edited February 9, 2009 by bruceclay

[DaveHauser]

Does anyone know if the nibs from the first generation Rotring 600s fit into the second generation Rotring Newton 600s? I'm just curious.

 

You know, it might be heresy, but I think I like the second generation (Newton 600s) better than the first. The knurled grip is nice (on the original 600s), as is the rotating nib-size-indicator (ditto), but the spring loaded capping system on the 600 Newton seems much more robust and long-lived than whatever system keeps the caps on the first generation 600s. I've got a nice silver first generation, but that cap is significantly less tightly on the pen (when capped) than when I got it (about a year ago, and only moderate-to-light usage). I don't know how much longer the cap will stay securely on the pen.

 

Anyway, just wondering about the interchangeability of the nibs on the first two generations of 600s/Newtons.

 

dave hauser

[zerobuttons]

What about the scratches?

I am too much worried about the black ones especially after I saw this

http://flickr.com/photos/canuckshutterer/187677247/

.....

Then the look of Stani´s 600 will make you pass out:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=80095

 

[Souldrifter]

What about the scratches?

I am too much worried about the black ones especially after I saw this

http://flickr.com/photos/canuckshutterer/187677247/

.....

Then the look of Stani´s 600 will make you pass out:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=80095

 

That. Is. Awesome!

[Splicer]

Does anyone know if the nibs from the first generation Rotring 600s fit into the second generation Rotring Newton 600s? I'm just curious.

 

You know, it might be heresy, but I think I like the second generation (Newton 600s) better than the first. The knurled grip is nice (on the original 600s), as is the rotating nib-size-indicator (ditto), but the spring loaded capping system on the 600 Newton seems much more robust and long-lived than whatever system keeps the caps on the first generation 600s. I've got a nice silver first generation, but that cap is significantly less tightly on the pen (when capped) than when I got it (about a year ago, and only moderate-to-light usage). I don't know how much longer the cap will stay securely on the pen.

 

Anyway, just wondering about the interchangeability of the nibs on the first two generations of 600s/Newtons.

 

Yes, it is heresy, but I agree with you. I think the second generation is a favorable refinement, but you and I are in the minority.

 

I know I've pulled the nibs of the 600s before but I can't recall if I tried swapping one for the other. For some time I had the nib of a 700 attached to a 600. That's some sort of dream combination, to be sure, but I never did get the flow right with that. The cap might not have fit either—I just don't recall why I gave up on that. Sorry I don't recall better, but yes, I think you can swap the 1st gen 600 nibs with their 2nd gen 600 cousins.

[zorbey]

What about the scratches?

I am too much worried about the black ones especially after I saw this

http://flickr.com/photos/canuckshutterer/187677247/

.....

Then the look of Stani´s 600 will make you pass out:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=80095

 

Wow!

Actually I am not against black.

But you should either have to keep it carefully or totally ignore scratches and enjoy odd look.

 

In anyways first scratch will hurt

 

[mana]

Has anyone noticed differences between the coatings and markings of their older style 600s? I got my third FP of that series last week and the coating seems pretty thin when compared to the other 600s I have. It is also shinier but in a funny way it feels/seems more scratch resistant. Also the silkscreened 'rOtring 600' wasn't aligned to the vertical center of the cap facet, it was a bit low and not as bright red as in the other pens.

 

I mean all of these could be allowed fluctuation in quality within the tolerances held by rotring at the time of the manufacture. I just found it to be a bit odd especially when compared to the 600's I already have.

 

No other problems there though, the B nib I got in that pen was über sweet, really smooth and it lays a really nice and wet line. I just took that chassis, swapped in the EF nib and made it my EDC FP. Me happy