NOS 1980s West W. Germany Mint Rotring Renaissance 2nd Series Black Resin Piston Fountain w/ M Medium GP Nib Item ID: ROT-072

Rotring Renaissance Type 2

Country/Manufacturer/Model: Germany/Rotring/Renaissance Type 2
Year of production: Late 1980s
Filling System: Piston Filling
Nib: Steel thick gold plated, M Medium size, fully flexible, to write, B, BB and 3B
Material/Color: Black resin, gold plated metal parts
Length (closed/with cap on): 135mm, Posted: 152mm

Condition/Info for this particular pen:
Until 1982 Rotring was owned in great part by Pelikan, so it's no secret that they didn't manufacture that many or any fountain pens. Probably because Pelikan didn't want to establish Rotring as a brand that would interfere with their fountain pen market. However in 1982 Pelikan had some turmoil and Rotring was able to buy back most of its shares and thus gain independence.

So this is the pen they decided to celebrate that freedom with. It's creatively named Renaissance, this definitely can mean only two things, or even both simultaneously: the company's Renaissance or the Renaissance of the fountain pen. Whatever they meant, they've done it!

This is the second iteration of that model, a more modern and refined version that was released from production in the very late 1980s, just before the reunification of Germany. Hence the pen bare the W. Germany inscription as opposed to just "Germany", for pens made after the reunification.

And this pen has to be the epiphany of fountain pen design philosophy in the 1980s. The fountain pen is simply perfect in form factor. It strongly resembles the high-end Reform 4383 pens, it even has the same feed ring. It would be nice to know how this collaboration with Reform happened. The pen also resembles some of the Montblanc 1960s-70s Monte Rosa pens, but this pen has a special appeal, a special form factor, feel and look.

The pen is made of black resin, simply shines, with a thick gold-plated clip and ring, and the awesome red band under the turning knob. Most spectacular part is the nib. It's an M size but surprisingly flexible as rarely seen on a steel nib, producing really amazing writing with thick to thin lines on each stroke. The line variation is simply achieved by applying some pressure while writing, and it will produce some amazing line thickness and line variation.

The pen is is in mint condition, near NOS (new old stock), with its original nib size sticker, clear ink window and clean cork, seems never used.