Rotring Artpen - the last Rotring fountain pen

Rotring has moved away from fountain pens over the years. The only fountain pen model that is still available is the Rotring Artpen, which was launched in 1984.
"...a calligraphic pen originally intended for artists. Its unparalleled ergonomics quickly make it a top seller" says Rotring
During this period the fountain pen was kept pretty much the same, but over the years different variants were offered to the public.
It has an interesting design, made entirely out of plastic, with a wavy grip section. The fountain pen as the name indicates is addressed for those who are art-oriented. The design of the fountain pen is reminiscent of a dip pen for me at least, with its long and pointy barrel. You can easily change the nib, different sizes and grinds are available.
The fountain pen takes cartridges or a converter.

Different moddels of the Rotring ArtPen:

Rotring art pen white was introduced to the market in 1988 (Rotring catalog 1988)

In the same year, Rotring introduced the Artpen Graph which featured an Isograph tip instead of the fountain pen nib. (Rotring catalog 1988)

In the same catalog, the Artpen is sold as a Sketch combi-set along with an Artpen 2 mm clutch pencil

A better photo for the Artpencil and Artpen Graph from the Rotring 1990 catalog

In 1994, 10 years after the launch of the Artpen, Rotring decided to bring to the market a limited edition called Millennium. 

"The success of the ArtPen calls for an ArtPen Millennium range. From 1994 – 2000, a new ArtPen Millennium limited edition was brought out each year, as collector’s items, presented as both signs of the times and objects d’art." (Rotring heritage website)

From 1994 until 1997 special editions of the Rotring Artpen, presented as a countdown.

Left to right 1994, 1995, 19946, 1997. Rotring 1998 catalog

Millennium 6 (1994) - Limited edition of only 3500. Metal barrel turned out of bar stock, red and black multilayer lacquer finish. It has a two-tone gold nib

Millennium 5 (1995) - Limited edition of only 3500. Barrel out of galvanized metal hand polished, multicolored stripes. It has a two-tone gold nib 1.5 mm

Millennium 4 (1996) - Limited edition of only 6000. Barrell is made out of cherry wood, and the cap is metal with 8 coats of lacquer. It has a two-tone gold nib

Millennium 3 (1997) - Unique limited edition of only 6000 worldwide. Barrel of translucent multi-colored resin with gold plated bicolor nib. Engraved on cap plug. (marble-like barrel)

In 1998 Artpen gold was introduced
" Caligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. The Rotring ArtPen brings this artistry into daily life. It accentuates its owner's personal handwriting style and underlines the joy of beautiful writing with every word brought to paper. The ArtPen is the right choice for creative, emotional writing and for words written for special occasions.
The ArtPen Gold is the writing instrument for the most exclusive requirements and most expressive pieces of writing. Gold fittings accentuate its classic shape, and the high-gloss resin finish gives the slender barrel a special touch of sophistication"

In 1999 a more simple design is released (edition 1). The fountain pen is an anodized aluminum body and cap in deep blue color, that can look almost black. With a bicolor gold nib. 6000 pieces were produced

In 2000 the last fountain pen in the series was released. A very nice cap and barrel made out of solid brass. Both sections have been etched with a guilloche pattern, and silver-coated. It has a hand-polished, bicolor gold-plated nib 

Rotring Artpen 2000 millennium limited edition

All of the special edition Artpens came in a nice box with a certificate mentioning the pen number and the total number of pens produced in the series. All of the Artpens from the Millennium edition had the production number marked on the cap.

Another fountain pen that could be considered a variation of the Artpen is the Smartpen. Even though it is marked a bit differently, basically it is the same thing but in more vibrant colors marketed towards younger customers.

"The ArtPen brings a new enjoyment to personal artistic expression with the written word. Its calligraphic nib makes any piece of writing into a work of art to delight the writer and reader alike."

rOtring Writing Sensations 2001 / 2002

Extra pictures

The Rotring fountain pen kept it's design principle over the years, and brought to market very nice-looking editions that made it even more desirable. Today though it is very hard to find one even though not many years ago the plain black version was still available in shops. When I initially wrote the blog post a few years back I said "After 33 years of service, the rOtring ArtPen remains the only fountain pen rOtring has in it's portfolio. I hope the future will bring a new special edition of the Art Pen or Art Pencil if not a brand new rOtring fountain pen.."

In 2024 the future in which rOtring revitalizes the Art Pen or brings a new pen to the market seems a distant dream as the Art Pen is dying quietly as well as the Art Pencil which has vanished from the market leaving no trace behind..

Extra information in the comments from Mark

"the original Art Pen 'Slogan' typeface was created by Helmut Mathias and first cast by Ludwig & Mayer in 1958, around the mid '90's rOtring refreshed the type cast with a new in-house design. We also had the handsome TRAXX variant from 1995, and with regards to the Smart Pen range they also included ultra rare Gloss & Semi-Transparent finishes, just in case someone is wanting to build the ultimate Art Pen collection. Oh then there's all the special edition box sets, desk sets, Art Pen Arkansas Whetstone..... its utterly fascinating
Then there's the time that the Art Pen was manufactured in Parker's Newhaven facility in the UK in the late '90's and the clip is stamped 'Made in U.K. which makes another rare sighting."

   - Mark

I also recommend taking a moment to go over the blogpost Rotring Art Pencil by unofficialrotring.

Post updates:

Updated on the 12th of December 2021

Updated on 12th of August 2024