Any Love For The Century 2

[RocketRyan]

Evening all, does anyone else here have love for the humble century 2? I love mine but feel that fountain pen folk don't.

[Jerome Tarshis]

We have people posting here who profess love for pens far cheaper than the Century II. And far more expensive. And around the same price level.

 

I like mine a lot. I like my Townsends, too, and my plain Century fountain pens. My one Century II writes as pleasantly as I want it to, and looks relatively good.

 

What I dislike about it is the way it came into my hands: I sent Cross a rather beaten-up Century that I did love, hoping they would repair its modest defects, and instead they sent me the Century II. If I'd had the mother wit to say on the repair request form that my Century had sentimental value, I'd have gotten it back. But I really thought Cross would repair instead of replacing. A lesson learned.

 

That said, I have a good pen, even if it's one I feel annoyed about.

 

I don't consider the Century II especially humble. The Botanica series isn't unpleasantly pretentious to my mind, but it is visually assertive. As are a number of other Century IIs.

[matteob]

I like mine it has a nice chrome finish, it is a nice compact size and the nib is nice too if a little on the dry side (medium). Only thing I would have preferred is a screw on top.

 

Anyone know who makes the nibs on these? Are they in house?

[LWW]

I have a C2 FP and enjoy it very much.

[penrivers]

Quite remarkable good fountain pen the Century ll. Btw I dont know why the Cross people hadnt figure out how to repair in minutes the wobble nib.

[RocketRyan]

I say humble I suppose because I find that quality out of the box to be right up there with the best, so for what it cost I think it's a bargain. Maybe I just got a good one, but it never dries out, never leaks and the nib wrote out of the box with no cleaning required.

I find it is the pen I grab whenever I leave the house, which I think speaks volumes for reliability.

Glad there is some love out there.

[Jerome Tarshis]

Oh, there is definitely some love out there. At the beginning of the pen's run, and for some years thereafter, it had a common and vexing defect: the ribbed plastic sleeve over the section tended to come loose. You could still write with the pen, but it might feel uncomfortable to know that the sleeve was in no way attached to the underlying section.

 

Having heard that Cross had solved that problem, I sent in the nib unit and received one whose plastic sleeve has been firmly attached. There are some happy endings in this world.

 

On another subject, if I were asked to take a guess I would say the nibs were from Pilot. I had this from the manager of a pen department in a very good store. But time passes, things change, and Pilot may no longer be the right guess.

[penrivers]

For the reader, I was talking about the wobble nib in the Century l, I have both the Centuries l and ll and luckily they work flaweless.

[RocketRyan]

I only have one cross so far and have found quality high, I am tempted by the peerless at the moment.

[max dog]

So I gave my wife a Ruby Red Century 2 with fine stainless steel nib about 8 years ago. A nice, smooth, moderately wet, reliable writer. I like the screw in converter.

 

She is a one fountain pen kind of gal, and does not want any other pen even though I offered to give her any of my more upscale fountain pens as I fell down the fountain pen rabbit hole over the years. I have to say that Century II is one solid, reliable work horse of a pen. She does not pamper the pen at all tossing it around like a BIC. It is never cleaned, and some times it can go weeks or months in between use with the ink left in it (fountain pen abuse!!!) and it starts up immediately every time with a juicy consistent flow like it was just inked. The finish, for all it's tossing around, looks like new still. It's not a pen to be admired and pampered, but used reliably in the harshest environment.

 

It will never let you down. That is Cross.

 

 

Edited January 3, 2017 by max dog

[welcmhm]

My Century II was my first fountain pen. My father gave it to me when I graduated college (almost 14 years ago). I never liked the blue-black ink cartridges it came with or could get used to writing with it. When I rediscovered fountain pens a couple years ago, I found it, cleaned it out, tuned the nib and got a converter for it. I don't know if I'd call it a favorite since I find it a bit small for me, but it writes beautifully now and is always reliable. It's usually inked and usually on my desk at work.

[lovemy51]

i have one with a barleycorn design barrel/cap. the pen is quite handsome, but a bit uncomfortable to hold and the nib is blehhhh. i expected more, but for the price i got it ($45, matching pencil included) i don't complain much about it.

[RocketRyan]

I have the medalist with a medium nib, brilliant pen.

I would say it's not a pen for long writing sessions, but due to its slim nature it's ideal to slip in my jeans pocket. Love it.

[lovely]

I say humble I suppose because I find that quality out of the box to be right up there with the best, so for what it cost I think it's a bargain. Maybe I just got a good one, but it never dries out, never leaks and the nib wrote out of the box with no cleaning required.

I find it is the pen I grab whenever I leave the house, which I think speaks volumes for reliability.

Glad there is some love out there.

 

It is not my pen to go around, as this is filled up by a Montblanc Classic.

 

This is or was a lot of years ago the bottom line of Montblanc; so not really an annoyance the pen getting use marks.

 

But we come here to comment Cross, and I do have one of this Century II.

 

No fuss, no nonsense, but talking of quality; it's perfect. Also visually pleasant thanks to 18k gold nib.

 

And does not skip a line. This is something my Montblanc 146 can not say.

[NosmoKing]

I've had a Century II for a year or so and it's been a wet, reliable writer with it's fine nib.

Just got a converter for it because the cartridges don't last me too long.

Now it's a decision of which ink to fill it with......

 

Edited February 15, 2017 by NosmoKing

[RocketRyan]

I've had a Century II for a year or so and it's been a wet, reliable writer with it's fine nib.

Just got a converter for it because the cartridges don't last me too long.

Now it's a decision of which ink to fill it with......

 

[RocketRyan]

I too find the converter a great one, always a full fill.

[rochester21]

Both versions of the century are a bit underrated. I am yet to try the second version, but i`m sure it`s similar to the first one. It`s on my list for a while.

 

I think the biggest advantage of these pens is the price, because they can be had for quite a bit less than a parker sonnet or waterman expert but the quality and style is there, on ebay us you can find unused pens and sets for around 20 dollars, which is excelent. They`re not scarce either, plenty of stores sell them.

[Flippy]

I like mine because of the beautiful chrome finish and the sentimental value behind it.

 

My grandfather found a Classic Century II FP that he had been gifted for a while back, and never got into using it. He decided to give it to me because he knew I was interested in fountain pens. Turns out the lustrous chrome version that he gave me was made in Ireland, and was more old (even the box was old!) Unfortunately, the 23k plated nib is a little dry for my taste, but I still have to appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

[swanjun]

I love my Century II. It writes beautifully.