Rotring Renaissance: BB (OM IS SOLD)

[penswrite]

I've got one boxed brand new, never dipped, old dealer stock, Rotring Renaissance black piston fill fountain pen to trade or sell. $29, including postage CONUS. Or, I'll trade for one old Pelikan or MB. I'd add some $ for MB 149, or a large Pelikan--or/and, I'll throw in some more/other pens & $ to complete a trade.

 

I'm looking for a usable (can be somewhat battered) MB or Pelikan (149/800) with an OBB or flexible BB, 3B, stub, or music nib. Seeking a smooth-writing, flexible-nibbed, wet pen to use for sketching/drawing. PM me, if you're interested in selling one, or trading for these plus $, PM please.

 

I bought these pens with some other pens on eBay. They were advertised as made in approximately 1989 or 1990 and said to have spent the last 20 years in a retail store's drawer. These pens' plated nibs are marked Rotring W. Germany BB (bold broad). Top of each clip is marked W.Germany (pre-wall-fall memorabilia!). Each comes in the Rotring hard plastic case with guarantee paperwork (probably well out-of-date!) and an outside cardboard box.

 

I copied this picture is from the ebay listing--and they actually look like they were advertised. Good looking packaging would make them attractive for retail sale, or as gifts to school-aged relatives as starter fountain pens. These aren't classics (like the old-style 600's, for example)--but they are said to work well, and you won't get depressed for two weeks if you lose one.

 

 

 

Attached image

 

Here is a link to another couple of pictures, and a FPN post about these pens:

Rotring Renaissance, any information about it?

 

 

In the interest of full diclosure: Somebody else from the FPN said: "I own a couple of Rotring Renaissance fountain pens. They are very light and not at all in the weight class of the 600/700/900. If you prefer that kind of weight, you'll not care for the Renaissance.

 

Otherwise, it is a good pen. It has interchangeable nibs like Pelikan, but Rotring doesn't make the nibs anymore. Also, I tried Pelikan and Esterbrook nibs and they won't screw in.

 

The piston filler mechanism works very well. It's a great pocket pen, because it is light. The nibs are very smooth, though the obliques are highly directional, like an italic (very little leeway in the pen angle). They were overpriced for their time, though. I wouldn't pay more than $30 for one. "

 

$29.00 each.

Edited April 13, 2009 by penswrite

[gyv]

"Calligraphy pens" typically have nibs that end with naked steel (as opposed to tips dressed with a harder metal such as iridium). That is a reason they are inexpensive.

 

Do Rotring Renaissance pens fall in this category?

If yes, they are still overpriced, IMO.

[penswrite]

"Calligraphy pens" typically have nibs that end with naked steel (as opposed to tips dressed with a harder metal such as iridium). That is a reason they are inexpensive.

 

Do Rotring Renaissance pens fall in this category?

If yes, they are still overpriced, IMO.

 

Well, challenged, I just took off my reading glasses, grabbed the magnifying glass, and took a look. There is a tiny little ridge at the tip of the nib of the OM Renaissance--which is the same gold tone metal color, non-magnetic material (then electroplated, I presume) as the rest of the nib. But it does look to be tipped with a bit of something, somehow. The nib and feed does unscrew, too, just like one of the other posters reported. Cap is a screw-on, not a snap-on. No converter or cartridge needed: barrel-piston filler; substantial-looking ink capacity, with a crystal-clear ink window.

 

Back to the nib, though: when I took the same kind of look at my trusty old Lami Safari--which also has a non-gold metal nib--there is no such apparent little ridge as these Renaissances. On my Safari, the nib looks like steel--but is non-magnetic. But, I have to tell you, my "steel" BBItalic Safari puts down one of the most versatile, wettest, and smoothest, lines of any pen I've ever owned. So, I guess I'd have to take issue with any notion that "naked steel" is inherently inferior to write with. Heresy to say, but I had a Pelikan 1000, with an 18k nib, that didn't feel as smooth or put down ink as well as my Safari.

 

I haven't dipped either Renaissance, but when I draw the dry Rotring Renaissance OM over paper it feels very smooth. The pen's in-hand-feel is almost exactly the same size and weight as, say, a Pelikan 400NN. Tinny heft, and a bit small, in my personal opinion. 5 3/8" (13.5cm) capped; just under 6" posted, to the tip of the nib. And, unlike the old Pelikans, which have substantial-looking plated brass trim, this pen's trim is probably plated stamped steel; the plating's lacquer looks twenty years old. Heck, it IS twenty years old!

 

Not a scratch on either pen, though. New old stock. Never dipped, never inked. Each one comes with Rotring's classic gray and red plastic pen box, too.

 

Not many new pens, these days, say "W. Germany," either.

Edited April 13, 2009 by penswrite

[John35]

PM for the Rotring OM,

[penswrite]

OM SOLD; BB STILL AVAILABLE

[penswrite]

BUMP on the BB nib Renaissance.

 

The buyer of the OM reports he is very pleased with the pen.

[politovski]

pm on BB

[penswrite]

pm on BB

 

 

Unbump, if there is no buyer. I'm going to use this pen. Myself.

 

I'll let you know, here, either way, how it goes. If it goes back up for sale or trade, I'll post it again. Otherwise, eat your hearts out...No, that was maybe a little harsh...and premature...

 

Brown, blue, or black? Or...?

 

_______________(later...

It ended up getting first filled from a custom-blended old bottle of inks: Old pen sacs & dregs, a whiff of Quink; also, some MB black--a reputed gall ink, with sediments

 

the pen draws by itself. almost

Edited April 21, 2009 by penswrite

[penswrite]

I've PM'd the buyer with the news that he gets the pen, if I decide to sell it. If he wants it.

 

Right now, it is in my left shirt pocket. It has been with me for two days, and I haven't lost it yet. The clip if quite strong--and holds on (sigh, unlike a few Safaris I have loved, used, known, and lost.)

 

The Renaissance is no longer a virgin pen, never dipped, never inked. It's in my pocket right now. I filled it with MB gall ink. (It started slowly today, for the first time slowly.) I hooked paper on a fast side-line, on butcher paper. Art class starts in ten minutes andI'm still not gone...so, I'll be late. I'm taking this pen. I'll let you know how it does.