The Rotring 400 is an interesting but very confusing line of pens from the early 1990s. It’s a clear relative of the Rotring 900, but the 400 is smaller and more affordable. The Rotring 400 was later replaced with the Rotring Espirit, which is easier to fine but generally considered to be less collectible.
The closest surviving relatively of the Rotring 400 is the Rotring Tikky line.
The Rotring 400 fountain used Rotring’s stiff, unbending steel nib and an short international cartridges. Rotring did sell — and still does sell — converters, but these pens were generally seen with cartridges. The nib on these pens is very sturdy and reliable, but they are nibs meant to be used for work, with no flex and very limited line variation.
The Rotring 400 is a smaller pen but it writes nicely when posted. It’s all metal, but it’s very lightweight, owing to a thing metal body, which is said to be made of aluminum.
The color of the Rotring 400 is usually described as being “gunmetal” — it’s a dark grey, that is almost like a reflective black but a few shades lighter. It’s quite striking and is one of the more distinctive features of the pen. Some Rotring 400s were sold in lighter grey-silver color with a matte finish. This is rarer than the gunmetal and is called “graphite.”
Rotring 400 Fountain Pen Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Rotring |
| Pen Type | Fountain Pen | Cartridge/Converter |
| Rating | |
| Barrel Color | Grey |
| Barrel Material | Aluminum |
| Body Diameter (mm) | 10.4 |
| Grip Color | Grey |
| Grip Material | Aluminum |
| Grip Diameter (mm) | 9.35 |
| Country of Origin | Germany |
| MSRP | $65 |
| Still Sold | No |
| Release Year | 1992 |
| Similar To | |
| Refills | |
| Capped? Retractable? | Capped - Snap On |
| Clip? | Metal |
| Length Capped / Retracted (cm) | 14.5 |
| Length Posted (cm) | 15.8 |
| Length Uncapped (cm) | 12.8 |
| Weight (g) | 15.3 |
| Refillable | Yes |
| Ink Color Shipped | Black |
| Nib Material | Steel |
| Nib Color | Silver |
| Nib Sizes | Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, Lefthanded |