A Cross identification + logo

[Liuna]

Greetings, I acquired these black matte pen and pencil. The image search says these are Classic Centuries (or just Century if they are older?). They are my first Crosses, along with a faulty sterling silver.

They are made in USA and couldn't identify what logo this was on their clip (I know there ate company ligo ones as company gifts).

I see no plastic thread inside (or that might be only at fountain pens?

 

When were these kinds manufactured?

The pen has a black dot on its golden top, the pencil doesn't.

[Chris1]

The black dot is to help you pick the right one when they are both clipped in your pocket and you can only see the ends of the caps; it saves you pulling the wrong one out. You have to remember that the ballpoint has the black dot though.

 

The caps simply pull off an inner metal tube.

 

This design has been made by Cross for ages and indeed was simply the Century until changes to the matching fountain pen and the introduction of the Century II led to the original design gaining the 'Classic' designation. The original Century fountain pen was lovely but could develop a fatal nib wobble that rendered it almost impossible to write with. I know of no cure for that, sadly.

 

There is a sticky thread here on Cross nomenclature as there can be a lot of confusion.

 

Cross used to have a wonderful repair service and lifetime guarantee but whether that is still the case I don't know. 

[Liuna]

On 10/27/2025 at 12:32 PM, Chris1 said:

The black dot is to help you pick the right one when they are both clipped in your pocket and you can only see the ends of the caps; it saves you pulling the wrong one out. You have to remember that the ballpoint has the black dot though.

 

The caps simply pull off an inner metal tube.

 

This design has been made by Cross for ages and indeed was simply the Century until changes to the matching fountain pen and the introduction of the Century II led to the original design gaining the 'Classic' designation. The original Century fountain pen was lovely but could develop a fatal nib wobble that rendered it almost impossible to write with. I know of no cure for that, sadly.

 

There is a sticky thread here on Cross nomenclature as there can be a lot of confusion.

 

Cross used to have a wonderful repair service and lifetime guarantee but whether that is still the case I don't know. 

Thank you. 

I don't know much of them. I did realize the dot's function. 

Looking at ballpoint pens, are there differences between Century and Century II?

 

I also got a silver ballpoint, but it has some problems, I detailed them here:

 

 

[Chris1]

I don't know if there are Century II ballpoints - sorry. The distinctive feature of the Century is the smoothness of the outline, as you see on your ballpoints. 

 

With the fountain pens, both the Century II and the Townsend have rings at the end of the cap to interupt the smooth outline that the (original) Century fountain pens had. 

 

I did see your post about the silver ballpoint but couldn't really work out what might be missing. If you hae the cap and barrel you might be able to work out what is missing by comparing what you have with the other black ballpoint. One option is to buy a cheap Cross Century ballpoint and cannibalise its workings to repair the silver one. But then you'd have other bits left over.

[Liuna]

On 10/30/2025 at 4:56 PM, Chris1 said:

I don't know if there are Century II ballpoints - sorry. The distinctive feature of the Century is the smoothness of the outline, as you see on your ballpoints. 

 

With the fountain pens, both the Century II and the Townsend have rings at the end of the cap to interupt the smooth outline that the (original) Century fountain pens had. 

 

I did see your post about the silver ballpoint but couldn't really work out what might be missing. If you hae the cap and barrel you might be able to work out what is missing by comparing what you have with the other black ballpoint. One option is to buy a cheap Cross Century ballpoint and cannibalise its workings to repair the silver one. But then you'd have other bits left over.

Which outline do you mean that you are referring to as being smooth?

Update: now I see what you mean, the middle ring is "poking out" as if it had a cap.

Now I wonder what the difference between Century and the newer Classic Century are, how can they be differentiated?

 

 

I rather have someone look at the silver one and if he can't help either, I'll try contacting the support at Cross. I'm not American though but Hungarian and there are no papers, got it from someone else (also the black ones). 

 

[Liuna]

Other question is, if there are later made Cross Century Classic ballpoints and pencils too, can they be differentiated from the older Cross Centuries?