Cross Bottled Ink

[sriramoman]

The ink in our convenient fountain pen cartridges is formulated to provide both superior writing characteristics and complete chemical compatibility with our fine writing instruments.

I personally feel it is not, so, at least in my Cross Century II medium tipped pen! I noted few characteristics about CROSS bottled ink and CROSS ink cartridges:

* The color is practically the same as Pelikan ink.

* The ink is very very very viscous as compared to Pelikan ink.

In many forum discussions and threads, people have complained about the scratchy ink flow in CROSS pens, and that the nib needs readjustment. Whereas, it is not really so!

It is this high viscosity of the CROSS ink that makes you feel so, and gives you quite a scratchy performance. I tried various brands such as Pelikan itself, Parker's Quink, Scheaffer's varieties and also Indian brands (I mean made in India and NOT Indian Inks) such as Bril and Chelpark. They all render very good ink flow and all of them are less viscous than CROSS. Out of all these ink brands, Chelpark gave me the best ink flow. It also has a good blue-saturation, unlike Pelikan, which has an ugly purple tinge. I would not recommend Parker or Pelikan because they are tooo watery, which gives an inferior writing experience. Of the brands available internationally, Mont Blanc and Scheaffer have an optimum ink-flow (neither too watery nor too viscous).

 

Points to consider:

* Of all the inks I have tested so far (Hero, Parker, Bril, Chelpark, Sheaffer, Cross, Mont Blanc, Viscontti, and few local brands), Cross is the most viscous one. Though people claim it to have similar color as Pelikan, it is MUCH viscous. You can test it by shaking a Pelikan and a Cross cartridge and observing the way Cross ink sticks to the walls of the cartridge! I have tested the two inks on identical plastic bowls and tested too, so that I could assure, that the sticking nature was not due to the property of the cartridge plastic itself, and was due to the ink within!

* Bril is the most watery ink that I tested, Parker- the wateriest ink available internationally.

* Chelpark gives the most pleasant writing experience due to superb ink flow. Moreover, due to certain cleaning solvents in the ink, I noticed that even Black Chelpark ink does not stain the nib! (I remember how Bril ink stained a Parker nib to death ) Among international brands, you could consider the ink quality by order of better flow: Sheaffer, Mont Blanc, Hero. Parker is too watery. Pelikan is JUST okay!

 

I compiled these ink tests not only on my CROSS fountain pens but also on a few Sheaffers and Parkers. Parker pens FAIL to write without a scratch on Cross inks (no wonder their Quink is so watery), so you can imagine what a great flow we have in our Cross pens!

Please do share and compare your experiences in trying the mentioned ink brands in your Cross fountain pens!

[JMX]

It's pretty much common knowledge that Cross ink is in fact Pelikan ink - just rebottled and relabeled.

[significantpass]

Yes, Cross inks are rebottled Pelikan inks. It's interesting to note the your findings regarding difference in the viscosity, though. How old were the Cross cartridges?

[Lsarios]

The Cross Cartriges are not made by Pelikan! That has been discussed before in this forum. I can not recall the maker of the cartriges but I am sure someone here will share shortly! If not I will do a search when I get some time. The Cross Cartriges did not work well at all on my Century! I always had initial flow problems. I now only use Montblanc inks on the Century and it works everytime. Even after a long sit it starts right up!

[Silvermink]

A lot of manufacturers insist that their inks provide some kind of "optimal performance" in their pens, and it's usually BS.

 

Sometimes the level of flow of the ink and the pen will complement each other though (like Pelikan, with its wet pens and dry inks).

[Lsarios]

Chad Lab Corp makes the Cross ink Cartridges.

[nicholasyeo]

I love Royal Blue and Brilliant Black. Very standard, almost boring but totally reliable!