I remember my Rotrings with great fondness.
Started in the Architectural drawing office of Taylor Woodrow in September 1980 and on the first day the Office Manager presented me with a list of the 'tools' that I needed to buy for my job. This comprised: Rotring pens sized 0.1, 0.25, 0.3, 0.5 & 0.7, a scale rule that could read 1:5, 1:10, 1:20, 1:50, 1:100, 1:200 & 1:500, a set of Rotring lettering stencils in 2mm, 3mm and 5mm, a set of French curves, a Flexi-curve and an adjustable set-square. Now, this was my first day....no pay packet until the end of the month!!! I had to borrow the money off my dad to pay for it all......and it took me nigh-on 6 months to pay it back!!! My first wage was £1250 per annum so just over £100 per month before tax! That list was damned expensive so I looked after those tools like they were made of gold.
Still got most of them........ And, boy, did they teach me how to draw!!!!