I found an old graduation gift: yes, a 14kt gold filled Cross Classic Century BP and MP set. I never used them, because I was already into fountain pens, and thought they were too thin and uncomfortable to use. Now that I've actually tried them, I find the classic Century surprisingly comfortable, aren't as slippery as I'd imagined, and after years of using big, fat FPs, I find their thin, minimalistic design quite appealing! After years in storage the blue BP refill started without hesitation and wrote evenly. Kudos to Cross! I'm going to use them gladly.

I have a few of them and have been using them for 20+ years. They are great pens.

They are really nice to use - I thought they'd be too thin to be comfortable but I use them for long periods with no trouble.

The Cross refills are some of the best I've come across in ballpoints - just enough friction to keep control and no blobs.

The matching pencils are good too.

Afterthought - anybody know why Cross are about the only BP manufacturer to supply black refills in the pen?

Odd. My first two refills were awfull. One (Irish made) sat almost unused in the pen for 15 years. I liked the looks of the pen, pluss its sentimental value, but was allways disappointed when I used it. Finally last winter I got round to trying a new refill (Chinese) , that was even worse and got returned to the store one month after I bought it. But, third time lucky. The current refill is really nice. Too bad the pen itself is no good for serious writing, for me.

(I allways like the Ballograph pens when I use them, both pen and refill).

I have a few bad BP refills over the years but a very few. I also had a similar experience when I purchased my Century 2 RB and left it in a drawer for some time due to this. But I recently picked up a new refill for the RB and it works wonderfully.

Cross used to make a fabulous Classic Century Ladies set, BP + MP, that came with its own case. Mine are black with a beautiful gold leaf-like design encircling the caps. I've had several of these pens and pencils over the last 20 years (don't know HOW I could've lost them, but it happened a couple of times). The cases do wear out after about 10 years of being carried around in my purse every day. The ladies pen and pencil are very thin, about 7.5mm in diameter, and have no clip - they are wonderful for my small hand.

I started looking for a new set a couple of weeks ago and my googling led me to this forum. Alas, Cross doesn't make these ladies pens anymore, I'm really disappointed. Now it looks like I'll have to figure out how to use e-bay to be able to find a new set. I guess I should post in the Pens Wanted section here...

The Classic Century pens and pencils are exactly the same as the ladies' pens apart from the fact that they have clips and they are all plainly finished. I liked them too - maybe we should petition Cross. After all they could easily make the caps without clips - couldn't they?