The rOtring 600 Lineup Lightens Up: Gold, Rose Gold, and Pearl White
Early last year rOtring surprised many of us by releasing their iconic 600 model mechanical pencils and ballpoint pen in three new colors: red, blue, and green. Despite its origins as a German brand (the name “rot-ring” refers to the iconic red ring that most rOtring models sport) rOtring has been manufactured for years in Japan by Holbein. This means that new rOtring models and colors generally show up on the Japanese market first before making their way elsewhere. This was the case with the 2020 colors, and it is the case once again with a new set of lighter metallic colors that appear to have just come onto the scene in Japan.
Once again, we ordered these pencils through Amazon Japan, and the process could hardly have been easier. Our order was placed on Tuesday, October 5th, and I had all three pencils in hand on Friday, October 8th via DHL delivery. If you do not already have an Amazon Japan account here are the steps that I described for setting one up last year, as well as some (Amazon Affiliate) links directly to these pencils:
You can’t just use your existing Amazon account in the US (you can register the new account to the same email address, however.) There is a language selection option on the top bar of the webpage on a desktop, or in the settings at the bottom of the side menu on mobile, that allows you to view the page in English. Additionally, while creating your account if the language selector doesn’t save your settings, I recommend using the Google Chrome browser, which can automatically translate the page to English for you. This was particularly instrumental for me in setting things up.
Once your account is set up, you’re ready to get searching. The page will do its best to translate your search terms to Japanese. Just make sure that you’re selecting items that will ship to your country. In my experience, shipping costs have been very low or even free. Once you’ve entered a shipping address, the site should give you a message to warn you if an item won’t ship to you.
Rose Gold rOtring 600 0.5mm Pencil
Pearl White rOtring 600 0.5mm Pencil
These new colors appear to come only in the 0.5mm mechanical pencil model this time around, as opposed to the red, green, and blue colors which are still available in both 0.5 & 0.7 as well as ballpoint. I’m not sure if this is because the 0.5mm model is of particular focus for the company at the moment, or if it is possible that the colors might be expanded to other models later. All that I know is that I did some digging on the Holbein Japan website, and I was unable to find even a “coming soon” listing for these colors in any other model.
The boxes are exactly what you would expect from standard rOtring boxes, but my love for rOtring runs so deeply I couldn’t resist dragging out my photoshoot a little bit (especially knowing that when it was over I would only be keeping one of these pencils for myself, just like last year.)
Looking closely at these pencils, they are identical to the other modern offerings from rOtring, aside from the new colors. There is the hole in the top of the eraser cap, as we discussed last year, but otherwise the pencil looks the same as it has since the 1980s, including the lead hardness indicator..
The colors this time around work well together. Gold and Rose Gold are an obvious pair, and Pearl White has a sheen that allows it to fit in with the two metallic colors, even if it is a bit more of a stretch. rOtring couldn’t have used Silver as the more obvious third for this trio as that’s already one of the classic colors for this model.
It’s hard to pick a favorite color out of this line-up, or even just an annual favorite. Last year I believe that the Green pencil was perhaps the strongest choice, with the dark green looking almost black in certain light, and contrasting well with the red text. This year, I’m going to predict Rose Gold will be the most desired option out of the three, as it is a lovely shade of pink, with undertones that look almost violet. Any of the available rOtring 600 colors are solid options, though, including the classic black and silver.
As I’ve said before, the release of these sorts of products from rOtring gets me double excited. The first time because they are fun in and of themselves, but the second time because of the implication that rOtring is looking to expand back out the 600 lineup. My dream is still to see a rerelease of the Rollerball and Fountain pen, but I’d also be happy if we continue to receive annual new colors for the rOtring 600. What rOtring 600 colors are you hoping to see? Would you want to see a return of the Lava finish, as seen on the rOtring Newton (the successor to the 600)? How about Purple or some of the other fun colors that Levenger used for their rOtring 600 inspired L Tech? Or should rOtring stick to something simpler first and give us a flat grey or a gunmetal, similar to the TWSBI Precision, to occupy the space between the Black and White pencils that now sit on the market? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Penquisition paid the full listed price for these pencils on Amazon Japan. The above post contains Amazon Japan Affiliate links.
