About 10 years ago, before the Ukraine war started, there was a very interesting Russian called Andrey who ran an eBay store, filled with tons of vintage mechanical pencils. I think I caught my first glimpses of Colleen Jib w-knocks, along with Newman drafters there. And amongst Andrey’s wares, the one that I felt was truly ‘Unobtanium’ was this listing for a ‘Vintage rOtring 500 2mm Drafting Leadholder 1980s’. It had the same burgundy red plastic body as the original 503/505/507 pencils but… it did not bear the ‘500’ marking. Most of all, it was priced at a king’s ransom of 2000 USD… a sum my then 5000-yen limited brain could not comprehend.
I have shared my thoughts on this ‘unnamed model’ in the past: that it felt like something so new for rOtring that they had not yet decided on a proper model number for it. Because, if the 500-series was properly planned, then the 2mm lead holder would probably be called the ‘520’ to fit into the 50X naming convention.
At $2000 I shelved the idea of ever owning one and instead turned to modding a custom version using a spare 503 body and parts from the KIN 5614 Select-O-matic II. And that was good enough for me for years.
Then in late May this year, I was contacted by @Dux of the rOtring Museum, who offered to help me acquire an actual ‘520’… for less than a fifth of Andrey’s original price (which sold, by the way). And so it came to be that I finally got to hold the mysterious ‘520’ in my hands.
Despite the shared design heritage with the KIN 5614, the ‘520’ stood out for its use of an incremental advance mechanism rather than a drop clutch. The knurling, body length and lead degree indicator were identical. However the button had a step to grip onto the plastic reserve tube. The ‘520’ also had a slightly brighter shade of burgundy compared to the modified 503’s.
Here’s a look at the disassembled parts. Another surprise for me was that the ‘520’ had a spring cushioned clutch. Yes, this quirk of the 50X and early 500 series seems to have started with the ‘520’! In comparison, KIN seems to have opted for simpler non-cushioned mechanisms for the Rapidomatic series. So, at the very least, it could be said that while the KIN 5614 was the starting point for both the Rapidomatic and rOtring 500 series, rOtring at least made an effort to be mechanically differentiated on the inside.
Here’s a quick look at the original ‘500’ series line-up… minus my ersatz 520. Again, it is interesting to see that the real ‘520’ had the rOtring logo centred on the hex barrel between the end of the knurled grip and the start of the steel clip… i.e. there was no plan for a number. Conversely, the 50X’s markings accounted for the numbering and was re-centered on the body. And then even later, when the numbering was changed to the current day ‘rOtring 500 / 0,5 mm’ styling, the logo stayed put and the additional text simply flowed on behind it.
Lastly here is a group shot of the 500, first generation 600 and 600G, along with some close-ups of their ‘no ring’ and ‘thin red ring’. Alongside the KIN family and earliest copycats from ALVIN, I think this closes my chapter on collecting rOtring.
