Calais Ballpoint

[Mike 59]

I was looking for a well made, and long lasting ballpoint to use with several forms I have to fill in often, and I finally settled on this "Calais" in Chrome and Blue. It's the first Cross pen I have ever owned, and I am delighted with it.

It has all the qualities I wanted, heavier than usual, I weigh it at 30gm, and thicker to hold, it's 12.5mm at the widest part.

I find many pens are too thin, or "skinny" and I was looking for something thicker, this is it.

It has a black refill, and writes very smoothly. A very good buy I think, it cost me GB £15, (about US $ 27 ??).

[kareth]

hi,

congrats on purchase of calais..

 

looking forward to purchase the same.

 

a few doubts, requesting to please clarify

 

1) is the blue portion metal or is it resin/plastic?

2) are the inner threads metal / plastic?

3) is calais, made in China?

3) could you post a writing sample of this pen ( true, its not a fountain pen)

 

thanks..

[Mike 59]

Hi, Well it's best I post some photos with the pen apart, but it's midnight right now, so I will do that in daylight.

The blue part is a deep coloured resin I would guess, and is very glossy and rich, but it gives good grip, better than all metal would be.

The chrome is of very high quality, really deep shine to it. The refill is a standard Cross medium black, part 0910.

The chrome cap is not threaded, it pulls straight up to remove it. To use the pen, you just turn the cap around 3/4 turn clockwise. This is the first ballpoint I have bought that has no sideways movement at the point, ie no "clicking" noise when writing, there is no spring.

Overall I would say it is all high quality build, I can't think of a bad thing to say about it.

One of the things I like most, is the thick barrel, 12.5 mm, as I don't get along with thin pens. The box has the USA address on it, I cannot see any "Made in USA" or China on box or pen, so I cannot say where it was made.

Very pleased with this one, photos to follow later.

Edited January 20, 2012 by Mike 59

[sriramoman]

Calais is really a great pen- Its in my high priority wish list. Great build, finish and quality and one thing that goes unnoticed is the exceptionally great twist mechanism. Just try twisting open, you'll notice its so smooth that you wont feel the friction while turning. At the same time, there is proper restraint that prevents it from misbehaving- I mean it doesn't unintentionally twist->close while writing. I noticed this detail of great mechanism only in Cross pens. Once you give attention to the smoothness, you wont resist twisting. After all, the mechanism is guaranteed for lifetime.

The blue colored part is metal (I'm not sure if its brass or stainless steel), coated with several layers of deep lacquer.

[sriramoman]

 

3) could you post a writing sample of this pen ( true, its not a fountain pen)

 

thanks..

 

This is what I posted in Cross Calais review in http://www.cross.com/Catalog/ProductDetail.aspx?id=AT0112-3(Cross) (Search for sriramoman in review section)

 

[kareth]

hi mike59, thanks for the detailed description on calais, which is truly helpful

 

hi sriramoman, thanks indeed for the writing sample and for the info on barrel.

[Mike 59]

A few more photos, if of use.

Edited January 20, 2012 by Mike 59

[kareth]

excellent photos, beautiful handwriting.

i hope the blue barrel is plastic (not metal)

 

one important doubt:

can the metal refill be removed from its black plastic cap at the end? in other words can other compatible refill be used or is it a case where the metal refill cannot be removed from its plastic cap and only cross refill will suit the pen

 

please help

 

thanks for the photos..

[Mike 59]

Hi Kareth, I tried to get the black plastic cap off, but could not using my hands.

I think it would be possible with more force. But I must say the Cross refill I have is very good to write with, starts straight away, continuous line, really no problems at all. I would buy the real Cross refill again as a spare.

I don't know who makes compatible refills, but if they do, the cap may be fitted by them too, so it will fit the pen.

I did ask in a large department store about the real Cross refills, and they told me that they are highest quality.

 

Maybe it's possible to get other refills to fit Cross pens, I'm not sure, but the one I have now is fine.

 

* The blue barrel on the Calais is a glossy plastic and there must be a metal tube inside it. It lets me grip the pen well, I chose this one, and not the all chrome version because I think it would be difficult to grip.

It's a really well made ballpoint, everything about it has a quality "feel", very pleased with mine. It weighs about 30gm.

Also Cross give a lifetime guarantee, will repair or replace no matter when the pen was bought.

[sriramoman]

The blue barrel on the Calais is a glossy plastic and there must be a metal tube inside it

Mike, the barrel is not plastic- Its brass/steel heavily coated with 8 layers of blue lacquer. The black part between the steel-refill holder and the barrel is merely a washer, that's the only instance of plastic in the entire pen; even that I'm not sure whether its really plastic or some higher grade stuff.

Kareth,

one important doubt:

You can very well pull out the colored cap of the refill with pliers or by mild force.

Regarding refills:

In the photos, one is a Century II ballpoint and the other is a Classic Century I ballpoint pen; all Cross ballpoints have same threads to accept the refill in.

In this, the first refill is a Pierre Cardin worth INR 10/USD 0.02 and the second is AT Cross worth INR 145/USD 3.00 This shows (at least by pulling the colored cap) we can adjust and bring both of the refills to same, required dimension. Pulling is easy enough and both refills write well. And Pierre Cardin is not the only alternate, we have many brands like Flair, Oscar, Oliver, all of similar price and all fit Cross. But I'd rate them equal to Parker jotter refills, whereas Cross has its unique quality that's quite unsurpassed.

This picture shows the pens, loaded with Pierre Cardin and AT Cross refills respectively, both twisted open.

[Mike 59]

Thanks sriramoman for the extra info about the blue laquer on the Calais, I didn't know that. It does grip well for writing, and looks good too. There is a black grip version too but it was more money, and out of my range.

The real Cross refills are easy to find here, north of London, but cost is high at £2.50 (US $ 3.90), but I think they are high quality, and should last a year or so for me, so I will pay that price.