Forgive me but I have a weakness for Japlish metal pen cases. I thought this one was particularly suited to my weekend selection of ‘black tie’ rOtring implements.
The Facet Newton seems to be a favorite amongst the Japanese, and I believe it was also rebadged as a Parker Facet (of all things). I stuck to black, and ballpoint format as I did not fancy unscrewing the body to refill the MP model.
I couldn’t escape this process however, when it came to the Initial double knock in 0.7mm. Truthfully, this is my favorite ‘executive / lifestyle’ rOtring design. The curved grip is very comfortable to hold, and the double knock action is precise, and sure in the difference between deployment and knocking. I have never accidentally retracted the Initial in use. I especially enjoy the design of the spring for the curved clip. The whole chromed back piece pulls off to reveal the eraser nub for refills.
The 700 is singularly impressive for its Montblanc derived slim line design. The clip is a work of art and has been previously documented as being designed by German architects Kleffel-Köhnholdt-Gunderman in 1992. This double knock model comes in 0.5 (pictured) and 0.7. I like it a lot but the matte black finish always makes me paranoid about scratches and knicks.
The 1305 2mm lead holder has 2 features that I really like. An adjustable fall stop that is used with leads that come with a small metal cinched end. Truthfully, I love the look of the machined half-cutout end piece more than its actual utility! The other cool feature is the metal hexagonal roll stop fitted just after the taper of the front section. A low profile design compared to the sharper roll stop on some of the higher end Uchida.
Lastly, a Tikky eraser, also in black. I’ve seen many other-branded versions of this design but having the tip in red against the black body makes it an apt addition to the line-up.
I’ve often wondered ‘what if’ the 900 series came in black… but that’s a dream too far.
Facet, eh? I never heard that name for it, but it is apt. I have seen it labeled as Newton. Is it Newton Facet then?
Don’t tell the truth about your love of the Initial. I don’t want to hear it. The Initial drives me crazy with all that plastic and all those curves here and there. Just a design mess to me. Ok, I am stepping off my soap box.
The 700 does scratch up very easily. I have several and I let one out of sight in a zipper pencil case with some other items one time and it was all over. The good news is that now I can use it without worry!
I agree that the 1305 is cooler for its design clarity and machine era aesthetic than for its innovative/odd mechanism. The mechanism gets all the hype.
It’s a combination of scarcity, aesthetics and rarity of features. The fall-stop mechanism is uncommon and the appearance of the cutout in the button for the slide adjustment is pretty cool. I paid about USD 76 for mine about 4-5 years back on eBay from a Dutch seller who had a small stash.
I love the rOtring 700 MP. It’s a little too slender for easy long term use (IMHO), but it’s just gorgeously aerodynamic. BTW, I do believe the finish is a very dark brownish/black, which is more evident under very bright light. More subdued light and it looks black. And yes, it is scratch prone. But that clip… totally does it for me. Avoid putting the clip to use, though. Under most circumstances it’ll be just fine, but if it ever gets tugged hard, the clip can bend in a peculiar way and never be coaxed back to being straight. A guy named Splicer over on FPN once posted a photo about it, but because it was hosted on Photobucket (which went to a paid model), the image is lost.
The rOtring 1305 is a thing of beauty. I wish rOtring would make this again.
That Tikky eraser looks great. Is it an internal ratchet design?
Interesting that the knurled grip on the 1305 is very similar to the one on my Nestler, just with 6 rows instead of 8 on the Rotring. Same OEM perhaps?
That kind of knurling pattern is quite old, and can be found often on some medium-to-low-type leadholders from various manufacturers — first coming to my mind are Staedtler (Mars Lumograph 480002, 10 rows) and Koh-I-Noor (K22 with 7 rows; K33, with 6 rows).
As for the rOtring 1305, I got one from Dan Linn years ago, but never managed to fully appreciate its features, especially the grip (the presence of the hexagonal safety ring made the handling almost unbearable, in the long run), so I recently ended up trading mine with one of the users here.
I’d be very happy to try a Faber-Castell Tekagraph 9604 “Rund” (round body, not triangular like the ones one can typically find online), which has a similar form but a decidedly smoother grip area: I think those are very rare and quite expensive, much more than the 1305: the only listing I can recall on Ebay was from Andrey, many years ago, and it went already for $$$… If any of you has one spare for trade or sell, feel free to DM me, maybe we can find a sweet spot.
I will let you know if I get around to selling one. Haven’t sold anything in a while. It is tough shipping out from Taiwan and takes a much more concerted effort than when I am in the US.
Differently from its “cousin”, the Faber-Castell Tekagraph 9603 (triangular body), which is much more common (at least the black-body version; there is a green-body variant which is harder to get), the 9604 is some sort of a “ghost”.
Last time I saw it, it was in an Instagram picture by a Mike Windham, whom I swiftly contacted for a possible sale. Unfortunately, the leadholder was already on its way to another collector, who had swapped the 9604 for some Theo Altheneder leadholder that mr. Windham was looking for.
There is also a picture on this forum: the 9604 was part of the legendary collection of Damdeok, “the Korean”; you can see it here (second half of the post): Collection of Damdeok, the Korean - #205 by stu-dying, but please browse the whole thread, it’s just amazing.
Apart-Roof on Reddit is my drafting tool collecting buddy. I take some blame for getting him hooked on MPs. He helped me source some missing drafting parts I needed to complete a couple sets and I sent him an H-1005 and a Trupoint repeater in return. He had some great luck scoring Alteneder lead holders at various times, so I am guessing Mike Windham traded the 9604 to him.
Yes, Damdeok’s collection boggles the mind. Glad he has the 9604. Testifies to its exclusivity.
It was so great that @stu-dying was able to communicate with Damdeok and convey images of his collection. Simply mindboggling. I hadn’t paid much attention to the 9603, but all I’d ever seen were black grip examples. Never saw a green one before. The 9604 looks like a “tear drop” taper, with the bulbous end towards the front. Interesting design. I wonder if it’s a specialized grip for certain kinds of use?
I think it might probably be the other way round: the triangular shape of the 9603 “classic/standard” Tekagraph is probably designed for drafting, to avoid rolling on slanted surfaces, and enhancing an otherwise plain and smooth grip area.
On the other hand, the design for the 9604 “Rund” (round) Tekagraph is more similar to the one for sketch/artist pencils, and in this sense is more “common”, i.e. it looks much more like a standard wooden pencil with cylindrical shape. I don’t know whether the two versions were produced in equal quantities, yet I know that today only the triangular (black) version pops up on auction sites regularly — alas!.
I can see a specialised destination for the round body only if I think about, say, stenographers — they would frequently rotate the pencil to ensure uniform erosion of the writing tip, and hence they would have appreciated the “Rund” specimens much more. Apart from that, the form factor does not seem that special to me.
Besides, I’m confident that the shape of the F.C. 9604 heavily inspired the rOtring designers when they thought about the “Art Pen/Pencil/Pen Graph” series of writing instruments, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out that even the rOtring 1305 and 1310 ended up being variations on that original theme: the level of tapering, the super-slim rear button, the position of the largest diameter… the resemblance is just striking.
