****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Cross Pens. Given as gifts to hundreds of thousands of people and bought for personal use far less often. People bemoan China's role producing this pen, but I don't really understand why. It is a good pen, and gets the job done.I made the switch to fountain pens about ten years ago when I was gifted a Cross Century 2, and it was my only Cross until just recently. It was OK. It worked. It also served as a gateway into a world of pens that I never knew existed. I fell into a deep pool full of vintage, modern, cheap and expensive pens of all types and descriptions. I am an accumulator, grabbing all sorts of fountain pens. I also became an avid collector and fan of Sheaffer pens, grabbing most of the models made from the late 1910's through today. That interest in Sheaffer lead me back around to Cross, as A. T. Cross purchased Sheaffer back in 2014. I like most of the recent Sheaffer pens (even though Cross has pushed the brand down-market trying to make Cross seem more premium. Shudder.) So, I decided to give Cross another shot.My 193rd pen was this Classic Century with Rose Gold PVD. This is a small, light pen. It feels right to people accustomed to cheap Bic pens and #2 pencils but feels odd in the hands of anyone who has used proper sized pens. It is also very light. The PVD creates a very thin coating - much thinner and lighter than Cross’s more traditional lacquer finish. I think this is actually a good thing. This pen is too small for serious writing and is relegated to note taking. My ideal quick note taking pens are usually plastic with fine nibs. Lighter pens ride easier in shirt pockets or clipped to my shirt placket, and a narrow nib behaves better on cheap paper. This little beauty fits the bill nicely even though it is made of metal.I don't understand the obsession some people have with Heavy=Quality. If you have that particular hang-up, you will not like this pen. Don’t buy it. Track down an original Waterman Philéas – they added weights in the barrel so it should feel hefty enough and it’s an excellent pen.The cartridges are ridiculous - odd, expensive, and annoying. But if I remember right, Cross ink is just rebranded Pelikan ink (good stuff) so no complaints with what's in the cart. The converters are easy to find so I can ditch the cartridges and move on.The nib is nothing special. It is better than many of the cheap Chinese nibs I’ve used, but it doesn’t have the smoothness or consistency of nibs made in Europe or Japan. I haven’t been able to find out where the steel Cross nibs are made, so I suspect they come from China like the rest of the pen. The nib feels more like the higher quality Chinese nibs sold on some of the better Chinese pens. It’s a bit dry for my tastes but dry nibs handle cheap paper better and fit my role for this pen well.Value. How about that value. If this pen finds it’s way into your hand in the normal way – as a gift – then it is a good value. If you pay full MSRP you should be ashamed and embarrassed. If you paid somewhere around half of MSRP (which should be possible easily, even on Amazon) then this is a great value and worth every penny.Don’t expect this pen to ever be a true collectable, or to appreciate in value in any way. It’ll most likely be a great pen to drag around and use until it gets crushed, lost, or stolen. And then you can just go grab another. Mostly because Cross moved production to China in order to stay in business. Now they can continue to operate for another century or two.I love my classic pen. Attractive color and smooth writing.My mother carried a pen like this for 20 or so years. I was out one day and my purse dpilled and I lost it. This bothered me for years. 13 years later I bought a replacement. This brought comfort to my soul.I'm a pen freak, and I'm very particular.I love this one!I lost my Cross pen, same like this chrome. It was at least 25 years, and it has taken this long another a replacement. Considering I paid about $20 for one more than 30 years ago, and now it's about $30 I consider it a great price so many years later. Cross pens write smoothly, comfortable for me hold and I especially like the fine tip refills, too bad they come with medium tip and fine tips are hard to find. Does that mean everyone loves them or company just doesn't make many, take your pick. Never thought of finding them Amazon. One day I saw them. I absolutely had to buy one. Hopefully I won't lose this one. Being income means I usually can't afford them.Excellent condition. Works great,Regale la pluma , buen precioPersonal useI bought this Cross Century as I used to have the exact same model back in the 80s. That one was made in the 70s and given to me by my Dad. Lovely pen to write with. Especially with a fine nib fitted.It was lost in a house move some years ago and I've been thinking of replacing it recently.Due to the quality of the last one I thought I'd purchase the exact same model.Alas, I am sorely disappointed.The build quality is about on par with any cheap metal pen you can pick up from a market for a few quid. The decorating groves don't line up as they did on the old one. The black plastic top end has sharp edges and it's metal rivet is off centre. The refill sleeve is off centre.The packaging is OK but I didn't pay for that. I paid for a quality pen.All in all it's built to price in some Chinese mega factory like almost everything else. It's just built to the price of a £2.00 pen.Put it this way, if this wasn't supplied by Amazon I would say it's a cheap fake.Cross in name only I would say. I'd buy a Paper Mate / Parker instead.Shame.I love Cross pens, since my first one over 28 years ago.Regrettably, the quality in these, in my humble opinion, has deteriorated.The most recent one returned had the same issue as the previous one returned, the cap would not smoothly meet with the base of the pen. A gap of approximately 1mm for me is not acceptable, especially when the older same type pens fit perfectly.Excellent service and delivery. However I am disappointed with the box. For the make and price of the pen I expected it in a nice pen gift box with cross on. It is a Christmas present and looks as if it was picked up in a supermarket! The person for whom it is intended uses Cross pens I bought it because the person expects quality!Disappointed with my purchase as this pen doesn't appear to be authentic. I have an identical 10kt gold plated/rolled Cross pen that I bought a few years ago directly from Cross and there are big differences between the pen I bought and the pen ordered from this site. Firstly the "Cross" text along the nail clip is an entirely different font and bigger font size which makes it look like a fake (the font used isn't the Cross font used on the packaging or on its website for instance), secondly the engraved fine lines on the gold pen are more deep and not subtle/faint making it look cheap and fake. The workmanship on this pen is poor and nothing like that compared to the exact same model I bought a few years back. Will not be buying from here again, this pen is a fake. Very disappointed.It really is, especially for the price. It's beautiful, sleek, and sits well in the hand. The grip texture works almost flawlessly (perspiring hands tend to slip on anything, though). The nib comes out smoothly, and writes very well for a ballpoint - no smudging, for instance.I've had one of these for almost several years now, and it still works, despite being left largely untouched next to a notebook full of old stories and ideas. It worked fine throughout my GCSEs and A Levels, and the ink has never frozen/hardened up, regardless of the aforementioned neglect.The only downside is that those with larger hands might have some trouble gripping it, and even those who don't may experience higher levels of cramp than normal. Other than that, there's really nothing wrong with this, at least from my experience.
