Why Are Cross Pens So Underrated?

[Florida Blue]

with the worst nibs ever (hard as nails and even as hammers...)

 

To be fair, Cross has used some excellent companies to make nibs for them out-of-house. Pelikan has (and I believe continues) to make the nib for the Townsend. It's probably similar to the nib used on their Souveran pens.

 

Pilot/Namiki made the nibs for the Solo, Radiance and Verve. I just bought a Verve myself (off the bay) and I can't wait to try out it's broad nib

 

Pelikan and Pilot are quite well-liked on FPN, so those Cross pens can't be too bad. Of course, we all have a right to our own preferences and I respect that you don't care for Cross.

[tedd]

I have sold a ton of Cross pens in my time. They are the go-to graduation and corporate world pen for business. Although the basic ones were skinny and kind of ordinary, they are reliable, professional looking, and were popular among many national companies. I wouldn't say no to a nice business pen like that. I have a Cross Metropolitan Ballpoint that was given to me by the Cross rep that serviced my area with my name engraved on it for representing the pens so well. It's a good brand.

[whoelse]

That is good, do you want them to be overrated?

They are sure highly appreciated by many of us I am sure

[lovemy51]

i know people with disagree me on this point but you ask for it so...

cross are made in china and are from poor quality with the worst nibs ever (hard as nails and even as hammers...) i know some people love them and if they do it's perfect for them but i honnestly consider cross as the worst pen brand and have never considered them as a qualtiy brand...

no one asked you for anything...

[fpconverted]

I disagree with your assessment.

 

First, the hard as nails part really isn't fair as the vast majority of modern nibs are just that. To single Cross out for that is disingenuous.

 

You paint the entire Cross line made in China with the nasty brush. That's not fair either. I've read that the flagships quality has still mostly been maintained. You may have a slightly taken point perhaps with Cross's lower price pens made in China but still IMO, no worse than with other makers. If I painted say Parker, with the same Modern production brush you have Cross and shunned them for that, I'd miss out on a lot of Wonderful not so modern Parkers.

 

Your assessment tends to point towards you not having personally written with the best of the best out of Rhode Island when the whole pens were made there. You would be a near lone soldier to feel that Rhode Island made Century Classic I and IIs, Townnsends, Signatures and Pinnacles with American made 14k nibs are not high quality writing instruments.

 

To say "I don't like Crossi because I don't like all metal, thinner pens.", I would see as a completely sensical position.

 

Sorry, but I can't see your position as presented, the same way.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

Agreed! I don't find my cross pens are of poor or of a different quality either....theyve always performed well and written well for me!

[Unky]

Personally, the ballpoints are too thin for my taste. As a result I have never been interested in the fountain pens. I only speak for myself, others may enjoy a thin pen.

[WriteAway]

Personally, the ballpoints are too thin for my taste. As a result I have never been interested in the fountain pens. I only speak for myself, others may enjoy a thin pen.

 

C'mon, you NEVER heard of a Townsend????

[Unky]

C'mon, you NEVER heard of a Townsend????

Heard of, yes. Bought or used one no.

[WriteAway]

Well, one certainly can not call a Townsend a thin pen by any stretch. Or light...

[Moshe ben David]

 

To be fair, Cross has used some excellent companies to make nibs for them out-of-house. Pelikan has (and I believe continues) to make the nib for the Townsend. It's probably similar to the nib used on their Souveran pens.

 

Pilot/Namiki made the nibs for the Solo, Radiance and Verve. I just bought a Verve myself (off the bay) and I can't wait to try out it's broad nib

 

Pelikan and Pilot are quite well-liked on FPN, so those Cross pens can't be too bad. Of course, we all have a right to our own preferences and I respect that you don't care for Cross.

 

Good info on the heritage of the nibs used by Cross (how did you obtain it?). Any idea where the Apogee nib comes from?

 

I currently have an Apogee (Titian red), a Townsend (gunmetal? titanium?), an old Century sterling silver fp, and an Apogee chrome with a rb insert. All the fp's are M nibs. Enjoy them all; and am considering picking up another Apogee. Guess this makes Cross my second largest brand -- my first is Parker.

[Florida Blue]

 

Good info on the heritage of the nibs used by Cross (how did you obtain it?). Any idea where the Apogee nib comes from?

 

I currently have an Apogee (Titian red), a Townsend (gunmetal? titanium?), an old Century sterling silver fp, and an Apogee chrome with a rb insert. All the fp's are M nibs. Enjoy them all; and am considering picking up another Apogee. Guess this makes Cross my second largest brand -- my first is Parker.

 

I would assume the Apogee nibs are made in China, but I don't know. I love my Apogee too (chrome with the barleycorn pattern) also with a medium nib. It's a great nib: wet writer, soft/flexi and smooth.

 

I got my info from various discussions in the Cross sub-forum and from their packaging. The Solo I owned said "made in Japan" on the box and I've seen Townsend packaging that said something like containing parts made in Germany. Plus, Cross ink is just rebottled Pelikan 4001 ink. Their converters are made in Germany too, maybe by Schmidt or JoWo.

 

Early on when Cross started making fountain pens again in the early 1980s, they couldn't produce their own nibs and they had to source nibs from other manufacturers. They did make nibs in Rhode Island too until recently, but I assume the nibs they use today (except from possibly the Townsend) are made in China.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/177655-townsend-nibs/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/119184-japanese-nibs-used-on-other-manufacturers-fountain-pens/

 

These threads should shed some more light on who Cross has sourced their nibs from.

 

A representative of Cross who used to post frequently on the forum stated that most of the nibs are made in China now, which leads me to believe that they are still using out-of-house makers for the nibs in some of their pens (maybe Pelikan?)

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/112236-new-cross-nibs/

Edited November 21, 2013 by Florida Blue

[randyholhut]

Like many here, I've had mixed experiences with Cross pens.

 

The Century was decent as a BP or MP (at the least the Rhode Island ones were). The FP was so-so. And, yes, I'm from the era when a Cross pen was a status symbol -- a sign that you were an adult using pens that weren't supply closet cheapies.

 

I love the Solo, and hadn't realized until this thread that Pilot made the nibs. That explains why the pen writes so much like a 78G.

 

But other than that, Cross didn't excite me. Then I noticed in my local Staples that marked down a group of odd colored Century II and Tech 2 pens down to $20, and there were Aventura FPs also marked down to $20.

 

The Tech 2 is a Century 2 with a stylus on the cap. I got the matte black version, and I like it as a slightly classier stylus/ball point pen than the others you see at Staples.

 

The Aventura looks like a Waterman Expert, has a decent steel nib, and is a nice free-flowing writer. I even happened to have converter that fit it. It's nothing spectacular, but for $20, pretty good.

 

Yeah, Cross pens are made in China now. So aren't Sheaffer and Parker. That's how it is. My beef is paying top dollar for Chinese versions from these brands, pens that used to be made in Janesville and Fort Madison and Cranston.

[Moshe ben David]

 

I would assume the Apogee nibs are made in China, but I don't know. I love my Apogee too (chrome with the barleycorn pattern) also with a medium nib. It's a great nib: wet writer, soft/flexi and smooth.

 

I got my info from various discussions in the Cross sub-forum and from their packaging. The Solo I owned said "made in Japan" on the box and I've seen Townsend packaging that said something like containing parts made in Germany. Plus, Cross ink is just rebottled Pelikan 4001 ink. Their converters are made in Germany too, maybe by Schmidt or JoWo.

 

Early on when Cross started making fountain pens again in the early 1980s, they couldn't produce their own nibs and they had to source nibs from other manufacturers. They did make nibs in Rhode Island too until recently, but I assume the nibs they use today (except from possibly the Townsend) are made in China.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/177655-townsend-nibs/

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/119184-japanese-nibs-used-on-other-manufacturers-fountain-pens/

 

These threads should shed some more light on who Cross has sourced their nibs from.

 

A representative of Cross who used to post frequently on the forum stated that most of the nibs are made in China now, which leads me to believe that they are still using out-of-house makers for the nibs in some of their pens (maybe Pelikan?)

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/112236-new-cross-nibs/

 

Thanks for the info! I'll 'archive' this so I can refer to it.

[whoelse]

I just bought a new Townsend 10K at $40 shipped. It's not FP though. I have 4 Townsend ballpoint pens...always wanted to add a rollerball and FP but end up still adding more ballpoint. Cannot resist the low selling price sometime

[lahlahlaw]

Here in the UK we have a few chains of discount stores who buy up various lots of overstock then knock it out at a fraction of the usual street price, the main one I've seen Cross in regularly here is TK Maxx.

 

I bought a Cross ATX fountain pen and ballpoint set for about £15 there, they're generally £70+ on Amazon and other on-line places where you can usually find the lowest price. The fountain pen didn't feel right to me, it wrote okay, but the clip was flimsy and it generally felt cheap. I resold the set on ebay in as-new, fully packaged gift-boxed condition and I didn't even get my £15 back for it... And that was my first and final experience with Cross pens.

I bought a used ATX on ebay for cheap and I'm truly impressed with it. I have owned some 30 pens and this is one that I won't let go. It's a wet writer so I use it for my dry Diamine Blue-Black.

 

Goes to show their are two sides to every coin:-)

[Biology]

For me, when I see the crosses at the store they seem, on one end, cheap looking while still bearing a hefty price tag, or simply very cheapo and plastic looking while still bearing a $30-60 price tag. All in all just looks like a bad brand all together and I have NEVER used one before. However I have had the option to buy many modles and none looked like they were worth it. Perhaps it is a marketing issue or perhaps it is a price point issue.

[BromoGNU]

On 11/13/2013 at 11:37 PM, tedd said:

 Although the basic ones were skinny and kind of ordinary, they are reliable, professional looking, and were popular among many national companies. I wouldn't say no to a nice business pen like that. I have a Cross Metropolitan Ballpoint that was given to me by the Cross rep that serviced my area with my name engraved on it for representing the pens so well. It's a good brand.

They tend to be a victim of their own success.  Sticking with a very distinctive if simple design, and the FP world migrated to become informed by the MB 149 (Look at Platinum, Sailor, Pilot who have lots of designs reflecting elements of the 149 - chicken or egg, it is a cluster of substantial in girth, rounded to a greater or lesser degree.

I know this post i 8 years after the last comment in the thread, and a lot has happened --- what do you all think?

 

[bayindirh]

3 hours ago, BromoGNU said:

They tend to be a victim of their own success.  Sticking with a very distinctive if simple design, and the FP world migrated to become informed by the MB 149 (Look at Platinum, Sailor, Pilot who have lots of designs reflecting elements of the 149 - chicken or egg, it is a cluster of substantial in girth, rounded to a greater or lesser degree.

I know this post i 8 years after the last comment in the thread, and a lot has happened --- what do you all think?

 

 

I have two Cross Century pens. One is the original with gold body and Lamy Style gold nib, and the other one is latest generation, all black, nail nibbed "Classic Century".

 

Both pens are beautifully built, high quality items. Latter one is extremely light, and feels off at first. But after getting used to its weight, one can write non stop until its ink runs out. Both pens are wet, comfortable, reliable work horses. The second one can take more abuse since it has a nail nib.

 

All in all, I like Cross pens. They're a class of their own. They're professional tools, made to last and look good at the same time. They're like MagLites. Looking good, very functional, rugged, but sometimes a bit old fashioned. I don't think last point is a negative though.

[sandy101]

I have found the Cross pens I have to be reliable, heavy duty writers. 

 

I agree that the nibs on the Century and Townsend models are not as exciting as the ones found on German or Japanese pens, but they do get the job done, and they seem to be less fussy about inks. Certainly the Townsend, seems to be quite neutral when it comes to ink - unlike some pens that just clog when you show them a bottle of Pelikan Brilliant Black or Diamine Brown/green/red inks.  

 

The Peerless makes up for all the dullness of the other nibs. It is Cross's flagship pen and is brilliant. The (medium) nib is springy and gives some line variation. Sailor did a good job with the nibs. You get a frisson, that you do not get with the other Cross nibs. 

 

The only beef I have with Cross is their cartridges - expensive and with only three colours available - blue, black and (hard to find) blue-black. A convertor gets around that problem quite nicely.     

[sandy101]

Coming to think of it the Cross Peerless is an excellent starter pen.

 

Well made, exciting nib and lifetime guarantee, and a flagship to boot!

 

Lamy 2K, Cross Peerless, MB146, Platinum #3776 or Pelikan 600/800/1000. 

 

What a choice to make.