****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I never thought I would become such a pencil connoisseur or that it really makes that much of a difference, but for me there is life before rOtring, and life after. It's really hard to explain how and why, costs aside, the weight and feel is so balanced and precise, I find myself writing clearer, straighter lines with grace and ease that I never thought possible with normal mechanical pencils. I've also learned a lot about different leads and discovered that I vastly prefer the slightly softer side with Japanese B-grades. My only previous experience with mechanical pencils were almost always HB or 2H, and flimsy - constant lead breakage, a scratchy sensation against the page – and until recently I misunderstood this to be the diameter (0.5 or 0.7) more than the lead grade itself. So for awhile, I had stayed away from mechanical pencils for this reason and used the newer Blackwing Palaminos for awhile. They're pretty nice, but require excessive sharpening and even at their sharpest, their "2B" equivalent can rarely ever get fine detailed lines.I write a lot of music on staff paper, and sometimes the staff lines can be pretty small. I first discovered the rOtring 600 0.7mm model in silver at a local stationery shop, and instantly fell in love, especially after swapping out for 2B lead. The weight is perfect and I feel like I can write with it all day long. However, sometimes I wish for a finer point even still. I decided to buy this gold model in 0.5mm so I can easily tell it apart from my silver 0.7 at a glance (and again, swapped out for 2B, I am liking Uni SmudgeProof). With these powers combined, I am able to turn the pencil in such a way that I can get insanely detailed lines (necessary for writing all those tiny notation markings, and also text in the margins); but also turn it another way and draw a smooth line and it will thicken up slightly in a way that feels and looks fantastic.I'll never be able to go back to any other mechanical pencil again!Also the listing name is incorrectly spelled as "Rottling" but fear not, it is legit. The packaging and quality is exactly the same as my other one which cost almost twice as much at the local shop. Finally, I saw a review that says it does not come with an eraser - this is not correct – I can confirm that it's beautifully hidden under the cap, and they sell replacements too. The eraser works great, nice and clean!
