July Sponsor Spotlight

Retro 51 Submarine Rollerball Pen, via Pen Chalet

Sponsor support is very important to me here at The Pen Addict. My sidebar advertisers put their faith in me to deliver good value for them month in and month out, and I want to shine the light on the best of the best for you. If you are shopping for pens, paper, inks, and more, please check out these great companies and see what they have to offer. Some recent highlights:

JetPens celebrates the arrival of the Schon DSGN Pocket Six fountain pen in Aluminum, Brass, and Copper barrels.

Pen Chalet has the new, exclusive, Retro 51 Submarine Rollerball Pen. With only 500 made these are sure to go quickly.

Goldspot received the new Taccia Jeans Ink Collection, featuring a range of blues and blacks that I will certainly need for myself.

Vanness Pens is loaded up with all of the latest Galen Leather Co. goods, including several 3-pen and 5-pen storage cases.

Diamine Purple Bow Ink Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

Last year's Inkvent Calendar from Diamine was a huge hit, and this lovely hue was in pride of place as the December 24th offering. Yes, Purple Bow seems like the perfect color to top off all the gifts!

This is a deep, blue-toned purple that leans more toward violet than magenta, and even appears to be blue under some lighting. It has a ton of character, showing some shading, and a hearty amount of sheening. The sheen is a copper color that looks red at some angles and gold at others, and deliciously opulent at any angle.

In fine lines, it has a fast dry time, with minimal smudging at 15 seconds and none at all after 20. In bolder, wetter lines, it takes a very long time to dry, and even showed no change in smearing after 30 seconds. It's a well-lubricated ink with great flow.

It is not a water-resistant ink, but it did not wash away completely in a splash test, even when the water was wiped away instead of dabbed. Your work may survive a minor tea accident, but probably don't take it swimming.

Despite my rather extensive collection of purple ink samples, this one was not a duplicate for any of them. It's more blue than the other rich purples, but richer than my other blue purples. In tone and sheen, it was closest to De Atrementis Alexander Hamilton, but that one is far more rosy than this one. If you're a purple ink fan looking for a new purple with lots of character, this one is a big winner.

It comes in a wild glass bottle with concave sides and wee ball feet--it almost looks like a sea creature. I dig it. And it's only about $10 for a 50ml bottle via Stilo & Stile, which is such a good price I had to triple check it, because I thought that couldn't be right. All around, this one is too good to miss.

(The Pen Addict purchased this pen at full retail from Stilo & Stile.)

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Rotring 600 Ballpoint Pen "Madder Red" Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Rotring 600 is one of the most iconic mechanical pencil designs, and I'm sure a good number of people would recognize it even if they didn't know what it was called. It oozes great industrial design, looks like an instrument, and feels even better in the hand. Luckily, they also come in a ballpoint pen variety. But, the standard black and silver colorways had gotten a bit stale. I'm really excited that Rotring introduced some new colors for 2020, and I've really been enjoying the Madder Red ballpoint that I've been using lately.

The new red, blue, and green variety of Rotring 600 are just that — new color options. Nothing changes in terms of the design and functionality of the pens/pencils. I'm a huge fan of the colors and really pleased that Rotring decided to expand a bit into some more interesting options for their iconic pens and pencils. I'm equally pleased that they chose colors that still somehow match really well with their existing aesthetic and design language. The red and blue colors really pop, but they feel perfect alongside the red Rotring branding and famous red ring.

If you've never had the chance to use a Rotring 600, you should take the opportunity if one shows up. They're made of brass and expertly machined. The fine knurling on the grip section and top of the body feel great in the hand and offer a superb amount of grip. The pipe design of the lead holder or ballpoint refill holder allows ample viewing room around the lead or refill so that you can see what you're writing or drawing around when making precise motions. The nock mechanism has a satisfying click feel and subtle noise. The clip is strong and sleek against the hexagonal body.

My first Rotring was a 600 mechanical pencil. I love that pencil and enjoy using it even though I'm not an artist. It feels substantial but easy to control when writing. The extra bit of heft gives your fingers more confidence when making marks. The next Rotring I purchased was a Rapid Pro ballpoint. I also love this pen and have used it heavily for many years. It's a little longer than the 600 and features softer edges on the hexagonal body, but it's very similar in almost every other aspect. With this new 600 ballpoint, I'm not sure I'll be using the Rapid Pro very much any more. I'm currently smitten with the Pelikan Giant 337 refill, so I put that in the 600 as soon as I opened it. If there's one thing that Rotring don't do very well, it's refills. There are lots of great options for Parker-style ballpoint refills, but Rotring isn't among them. A better refill makes this pen undeniably good.

At $40, it's also a pretty good deal. It definitely looks like something that cost more than 40 bucks, and it's built to outlast most humans. They're still fairly new and difficult to find, but the more difficult part is probably deciding which color(s) to get. The possibility of mixing and matching the grip sections and bodies is just too good to pass up!

As of now, the Rotring 600 ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil come in Silver, Black, Madder Red, Iron Blue, and Camouflage Green.

(The Pen Addict purchased this pen at full retail from Yoseka Stationery.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!