Does anyone know when the silver rOtring 600 leadholder was introduced and discontinued?
And: Have there been different variants or just one?
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Didn’t know such a thing existed: I stopped at their 300 leadholder, which is not bad overall. Looks like a very heavy item: how is the balance?
By the way, this picture calls for yet another question: has it ever been a rOtring 500 2.00 mm leadholder? I’ve never seen one, and I thought they came only in 0.35, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 mm, but at this stage, I’m ready to have my knowledge base crushed once again.
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Not bad. Gravity centre is at about 6/10 of the length
Also between 18-20g which is nice.
I’ve been comparing the Uchida D 2mm with the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 2mm… I may have to revise my opinion… The Uchida is superior, one factor for it is the balance (7/10)
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It is strange but all the documentation I have found up to 2017 do not show any listings for the 600 / 2,0 mm.
At various times, the 2mm role was occupied by different series. Tikky era, by the PS2, which lasted into the 1990s, then by the 300 / 2,0mm around 1999. Even when the Rapid Pro was launched in 2010 as an attempted replacement for the 600 series, the resident clutch pencil was still the humble 300 / 2,0. The Rapid Pro 2mm was only introduced in 2011.
The 500, 600 and 800 were re-introduced on rOtring’s website in 2012 but were restricted to 0,5 and 0,7 mm. 2,0 mm duties stayed with the Rapid Pro and 300.
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Somehow, Uchidas always find their way to get to the top of any preference list; those pencils are truly something else. Take the all-metal Drawing Sharp D: should be one of the strangest thing you can grab to draft; turns out is a natural extension of the hand, and gives a surprisingly pleasant performance even when writing.
And yet, somehow, we are witnessing here a 2.00mm rOtring 600 (pure clutch, looks like an improved version of the 300), and a 2.00mm rOtring 500/400 (this time it seems a knock pencil, maybe vaguely resembling some similar KIN models, just not so much “plasticky”).
The listing looks familiar: Andrey perhaps? The guy had some magnificent stuff, even though not always on the cheaper side: he was the only person I can think of who sold both a Pilot Automac E500, a Tekagraph 9604 “Rund”, maybe even a Pentel QX, and many other very rare and very interesting items.
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Yeah, Hammer the other was asking why did I chose a certain pencil for my top 5, top 3, doesn’t matter…
I kept thinking about and… actually, that’s almost impossible to do… not to say a bit dumb. We all know that having favourites is a bit childish, right? It’s the opposite of saying “My god, I hate Yellow” but it has the same value.
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It’s Andrey’s all right. But back in the day there was another seller from Japan (he was a architect and the nickname was some sort of word play with that) that sold hundreds of top tier pencils on Ebay. For a year or two he was selling Pilot Sprinters for $80… then he ran out of stock. I stupidly never got one. I got the Sakura Archi from him (for 550usd in 2015 or somesuch). I later sold it for about that price or below, I don’t remember… But probably lost money considering present day ebay fees.
Now, 2,000 bucks for a rotring 500 2mm push pencil! God my QX is worth 10,000 after all.
In Andrey’s defense all the 500s are brilliant pencils in terms of balance — what can go wrong with a plastic body and a metallic grip?.. but I’ve gotten a bit saturated with the “rotring 600” looks along the years and 2mms push pencils in general are kind of lame, exception made for the Uchida D. I mean, just Imagine if the Rotring 800 came with a feed and a clutch!
Feed+Clutch is possible and it’s when 2mm push pencils really become superlative — like the Stabilo 8-9 or the Leadmaster (and the less loved Tru Point Automatic) that push the lead out but then you feel the strength of the clutch getting around it, and it’s just very compact and very beautiful.
The Stabilo 8-9 is possibly the pencil I’ve used more times along the years. I got one in 2016, nearly a wreck and I was able to remove the 3 cm clog inside and make it functional again. It was my best achievement in repairing pencils considering 2mm leads make a real mess when they’re stuck… I drenched the piece in WD-40 so many times hoping the plastic barrel would regain some brilliancy… but it doesn’t work like that… It was only by using it that the pencil got a modicum of polishing back. It is an old beautiful creature. Plus it has a triangular body like the Rotring PS-2 or the Pilot Holder 2mm. I’ve grown quite fond of triangular pencil MP bodies which I initially disliked when I started collecting. I’ve been using the Stabilo 8-9 almost daily since then.
@Hammer_Jackson — If I’d really have to choose a 2mm as a daily pencil, to draw and write with, I’d possibly pick a Stabilo 8-9 or a Uchida D, despite the Mitsubishi Hi Uni being an almost mythical creature as I initially stated. I mean, the Pentel QX is my #1 but I never use it…
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Please elaborate with a pic. I don’t recall a Pilot Holder 2mm, but I feel I am becoming more forgetful (and hopeful).
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Ah, yes. My poor brain. I give up.
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I think I remember the guy; I tried to look into my archive of Ebay sellers, but the only one currently inactive has the name “Pencilism”, yet I’m not sure it’s him. I think I bought a pencil from him when he was slowly leaving the platform, but cannot recall the identity; he also had an avatar with some fountain pen nib, I think.
I concede it’s an interesting combination; I have a Schwann Stabilo 8–9 in decent conditions and the lead feed is actually very nice. Unfortunately @ulfesharpe , what works for you does not work for me: the triangular profile is one of my most vicious enemies, and I can’t stand the feeling — actually, in the case of the Stabilo 8–9 the situation is slightly better because at least the grip area is cylindrical rather than purely triangular, but for leadholders like the Tekagraph 9603, or the rOtring PS2, I can’t find a way to properly grip and manoeuvre the pencil appropriately. What a pity!
Maybe I should try to find some hexagonal-barrel knock-advance 2.00 mm, to match the ingenious internals with a body more suitable for my picky hands, but they are not as easy to find (I think the one and only Dan Linn has a full stack of those, even the most obscura from Italy, but they are not part of my current search).
Besides, this Pilot Holder looks interesting… 
the triangular part is limited to an area where my fingers could accept such a shape; who knows, maybe I’ll manage to get one some day, and see how it performs.
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Hex barrel knock-advance: Rotring 800 2mm is the highest quality ever made. A beautiful brass mechanism.
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The 800 2mm is nice indeed and certainly the best Rotring I own.
The rapid 2mm is nice too, I really enjoyed it – but that plastic piece connecting the grip and the body is a shame. After a bit the grip section becomes slightly loose and you can feel it moving while you write or draw.
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Good luck finding one!
(And thx for sharing that)
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Silver 600 in 2mm is still available:
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And also the Ystudio Classic Revolve series
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Thanks to everyone for the details!
It’s strange that the leadholder shown here has a hardness indicator below the button. Have there been two variants (with/without indicator) or is it just a happy Photoshop accident?
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All 600 2mm have the indicator.
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