Cross Townsend Black Lacquer W. Rhodium Pl. Trim , 18K Gold Nib

December 13, 2012

This is my first review, I hope I made it right.

Review:

Cross Townsend Black Lacquer with Rhodium Plated Trim and 18k Two tone Gold Nib

Used material:

Paper: Paperblanks Silver Filigree

Ink: Pelikan Edelstein Onyx

1.)Appearance & Design (8 of 10)

The Cross Townsend Black Lacquer with Rhodium Plated Trim and 18k Two tone Gold Nib is a design classic.

It is a relatively long pen, the lacquer is shining and smooth to the touch and dark black. The black/silver design is somewhat art-deco-ish, it is timeless, no nonsense and seems to me like the perfect pen for the office. I would call it a conservative design, but not too plain.

The pen is made of brass, therefore it has a very solid and robust appearance. The lacquer is great to touch, the nib section is made of resin, and has therefore a warmer feeling (less heat transmission then brass) which I like.

The pen in its case:

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-pack.jpg

The pen uncapped:

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-filigree.jpg

2.)Construction & Quality (7 of 10)

It seems to be made to last for decades, time will tell if it holds is promise.

The brass makes this a solid pen, it seems more robust and invincible then a pure resin pen. As said before, the nib section is made of resin, therefore maybe not as solid as the shaft. The nib section is interchangeable to all other townsend pens, all have the same finish. The cap sits relatively tight on the section, which is good, but uncapping creates some suction that creates a small ink-creep on the nib (but due to the ink beeing pulled out of the nib, the pen writes instantly every time).

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-open.jpg

3.)Weight & Dimensions (6 of 10)

It is a long pen, longer then a MB145, but it is not very thick. I would say it's a full size pen, but not a huge "man-eating" monster that only fits in very large hands. I have small hands, for me it's great. People who love very wide pens will not be happy with it.

The brass makes the pen somewhat heavy, but it's not too heavy. I write my pens unposted, can't say if the pen is a good performer when posted (I don't like to post the caps on each and every pen), I never post them.

The pen compared to a MB145 (bottom):

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-u-MB.jpg

4.)Nib & Performance (7 of 10)

The nib is a 2 tone rhodium plated 18k (750) gold nib. It is a smooth, firm nib, that is is an ideal nib for everyday use. It is a moderately wet writer. I use the "M" nib, I would say it's a classic width, about what you would expect. Not on the broad or wide side.

Beacause its relatively wet, the ink will feather on bad paper. All in all it is a quality nib, it looks great, I like it's design very much, but it is nothing too special (compared to a MB or something).

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-nib.jpg

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/crosscapnib.jpg

5.)Filling System & Maintenance (6 of 10)

The pen is a cartridge / converter pen, I use it with the green tranparent converter.

It's not a very large converter, I would say it holds abot as much ink a a small cartridge.

The filling system works easy and clean. I fill it usually with two pump operations (works like most converters - nib into the ink, turn the end of the converter, ink goes in). To clean it, I pump out the ink with the converter, and repeatedly pump in and out some soapy water. If neccessary I clean the section in an ultrasound cleaner. I would say the filling system is pretty much a standard thing.

The pen open, with the installed converter:

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-converter.jpg

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-converter2.jpg

6.)Cost & Value (6 of 10)

I bought the pen at a very nice and well sorted shop in Moedling / Austria.

It is called "Schreiben mit Stil" ("write in stile"), and is located in the historic center of Moedling Austria in a house dating back to the 15th century Schreiben Mit Stil.

The pen did cost about EUR 250,-, that is a lot for a pen, but I think it was worth it.

Total 6,7 of 10 points.

http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l537/sharksteve/FPN-Photos/cross-text.jpg

I like it very much, it is solid, classy, beautiful and works as expected.

For me it's and ideal office and everyday work pen. I fact, it is my favorite pen right now.

December 13, 2012

Hello Sharksteve,

Welcome.

You did more than right - you did very well indeed. Nice review, well illustrated and to the point. I see you were not very generous with your markings, rather more honest than most reviewers who tend to give more marks than deserved.

Townsends are one of my favourites too. It is my experience that the Townsend Gold nibs tend to be stubbish and the steel ones are more rounded in the tip. Does your nib too have a line variation?

You are using a Pelikan ink which are known to be dry. With another ink your pen may seem like more than 'moderately wet'.

Townsend are nice pens, but somehow I shy away from the lacquer finishes. With my butter fingers I find that they tend to pick up scratches before I can say "Whoa! What happened!". Townsends are workhorses and coll looking at the same time.

Edited December 13, 2012 by jslallar

December 13, 2012

...I see you were not very generous with your markings, rather more honest than most reviewers who tend to give more marks than deserved.

Townsends are one of my favourites too. It is my experience that the Townsend Gold nibs tend to be stubbish and the steel ones are more rounded in the tip. Does your nib too have a line variation?

You are using a Pelikan ink which are known to be dry. With another ink your pen may seem like more than 'moderately wet'...

Thank you for your kind reply.

Regarding the points - I did not want to give nonsensical high scores.

I really like that pen, really do. But there is margin to the top. If I would give this pen 9 or 10 points,

how many points would a lets say 3000,- USD Danitrio or other top notch pen get?

I think a score of 6 or 7 is pretty decent.

As for the nib- you are right. There is a bit of line variation which I like (horizontal strokes are a bit finer then vertical ones).

I tried a steel nib too. It was very smooth, excellent I would say. But it was a completely spherical/rounded point. So I can affirm what you said.

Regarding the wetness- that's good to know (the Edelstein ink was recommended to me in the shop for that pen, seems to me that was a good advice.

August 19, 2018

I bought a townsend with an engraved platinum cap several years ago. It has been the most disappointing pen in my collection. the main problem is that it simply refuses to write consistently. Perhaps it needs a soap and water treatment? Though i don't see why it would. It's been that way from the start. I need to press down hard to get it to write, and even then it skips and doesn't feel at all smooth. I should have written cross about it when I first bought it (directly from Cross). I finally wrote them this morning, so I'll see what they have to say. I have bought numerous pens from them, including nice ball points (I use for gifts), one roller ball (used for signing Ketubah at our wedding) and several fountain pens. Even if Cross repairs whatever is wrong with this pen, it will never be my favorite. In Cross pens, my favorite is the now discontinued Apogee. It fits very comfortably in my hand, and is beautifully balanced. However, my new MB Meisterstück 145 will likely replace it as my favorite pen.

Meanwhile, if any one has any ideas about the Townsend, I'd love to hear.

Brian

August 20, 2018

bampolsk, That is interesting about your Townsend. I have a Townsend Tuxedo model with the steel nib that sits on my desk at home. I may write with it every third day or every third week and it always writes without hesitation and consistently. Cross should be able to fix it. While my Townsend is not my favorite pen, I've found it to be reliable and a smooth writer. Hopefully yours will be too. Good luck.

August 22, 2018

I had USA made Townsend that I really liked. I sold it as I did not use it often enough. It had gold trim and gold trim is not my preference.

Soon I regretted selling it so this time I bought new Townsend, same as OP but with a fine nib.

I have major issues with this pen. The ring between the section and the barrel is not really a ring, it is a groove where the lacquer was shawed off to expose the metal. This should be just fine but unfortunately the plastic on grip section was not flush with the barrel and it felt very sharp. To resolve this I had to polish off the plastic with micro mash and now it is just fine.

While I loved the nib on my US made Townsend this fine was very scratchy. It was not misaligned just very feedbacky. And I prefer feedback to glass smooth rollerball feel nib but this was just too much.

I am not one of those who stopped collecting Sheaffer and Cross once it was made by brown people but this anecdotal experience makes me wonder if the quality with Cross has gone downhill. Which is the shame because I like the feel and feeling of quality this pen has.

August 22, 2018

I bought a townsend with an engraved platinum cap several years ago. It has been the most disappointing pen in my collection. the main problem is that it simply refuses to write consistently. Perhaps it needs a soap and water treatment? Though i don't see why it would. It's been that way from the start. I need to press down hard to get it to write, and even then it skips and doesn't feel at all smooth. I should have written cross about it when I first bought it (directly from Cross). I finally wrote them this morning, so I'll see what they have to say. I have bought numerous pens from them, including nice ball points (I use for gifts), one roller ball (used for signing Ketubah at our wedding) and several fountain pens. Even if Cross repairs whatever is wrong with this pen, it will never be my favorite. In Cross pens, my favorite is the now discontinued Apogee. It fits very comfortably in my hand, and is beautifully balanced. However, my new MB Meisterstück 145 will likely replace it as my favorite pen.

Meanwhile, if any one has any ideas about the Townsend, I'd love to hear.

Brian

I suggest you contact Cross. They have lifetime warranty. I once send them 20 years old Cross I bough on eBay and they repaired it under warranty.