Cross Coventry Fountain Pen At Staples.

[flatline]

I picked up a Cross Coventry fountain pen yesterday from Staples for $20 (the label claims the MSRP was $44). It came with a M nib, a F nib, and 2 black cartridges.

 

I can't find any information on this pen. It's not listed on Staples website or Cross' website that I can find, nor does it appear to have ever been reviewed here on FPN.

 

Does anyone know anything about this pen? I'm mostly curious about what converter would be appropriate, but any information would be appreciated.

 

--flatline

[Lorna Reed]

I've never heard of this pen, but I should get one, as I was born and live in Coventry!

[RMN]

Are you sure it is a Cross pen?

 

It appears that the "Coventry Cross" is a local landmark in the city of Coventry, a sort of modern Market Cross.

 

Could it be that this is another brand pen which is made to commemorate this cross?

 

So what are the inscriptions on nib, clip and rest of the pen? Pics would help.

 

 

D.ick

[Lorna Reed]

This is the Coventry Cross - a replica of the medieval one, which stood on the same site. As you can see, it's not a cross at all.

 

 

[flatline]

  On 9/22/2013 at 5:08 PM, RMN said:

Are you sure it is a Cross pen?

 

It appears that the "Coventry Cross" is a local landmark in the city of Coventry, a sort of modern Market Cross.

 

Could it be that this is another brand pen which is made to commemorate this cross?

 

So what are the inscriptions on nib, clip and rest of the pen? Pics would help.

 

 

D.ick

 

 

I'm quite certain it's a cross. I've attached a picture of it in the box.

 

The clip says "cross" and the metal band where the section and body join says "cross" twice. Each nib says "cross". Finally, the cartridges say "cross" and look identical to the cross cartridges I've seen for sale in local stores.

 

I've had all day to play with it and I'm reasonably impressed. It writes nicely, is balanced nicely (un-posted), and looks pretty nice.

 

My only real complaint so far is that the section threads have an enormous amount of play as you (un)tighten it. Once the threads are loaded, everything is solid and secure, but it feels real cheap until you get things tightened. Is this typical of cross fountain pens?

 

Please forgive the pictures. My phone's camera is pretty weak.

 

--flatline

[flatline]

So I've been using this pen for a couple of days now and I'm quite pleased with it. The F nib is almost as fine as the EF nib on my Pilot Penmanship, but it's much more paper tolerant than the Penmanship is. I haven't tried the M nib yet (will run this one out of ink and then switch).

 

So far the pen has not had starting issues, drying out issues, skipping issues, although it gets just a little drier if I do a lot of fast writing. It's not as wet as my Safari is, but that might be the ink's fault.

 

It writes well on cheap paper although I've had to floss the nib twice now to remove paper fibers. I've never had to do that with my other pens, but I'm not really sure what to make of it. The cross ink seems more prone to feathering than the Noodler's Blue that I'm using in my other pens, but I'm not really worried about that since I plan to use N.B. in it once I run the cartridge dry.

 

I found 2 Cross converters on Amazon, one threaded, one not. If I decide to continue using this pen, I'll pick one up. In the meantime, I can just refill the cartridge.

 

--flatline

[flatline]

I switched to the M nib. I estimate that the M nib makes a line about two times wider than the F nib. It also puts down significantly more ink such that the black ink from the same Cross cartridge looks like a different black.

 

The M nib writes much smoother than the F nib (and the F nib wasn't bad) although I have no way of knowing if that's the nib itself or the fact that it writes wetter (or both).

 

I didn't see any threads when I switched sections, so I guess that the unthreaded Cross converter on Amazon is probably the converter to try.

 

--flatline

[metalhe4der]

Hey flatline,

 

Thanks for posting about this pen. I was at Staples (here in Canada!) and decided to pick this one as my first fountain pen, especially after I saw you write about it (thank goodness for mobile internet). Signed up to this neat place and wanted to thank you for the quick reviews. Can't beat a good looking pen for $19.99.

 

I wouldn't be able to compare it with much else, since it's my first. But I gotta say, I love the color - it's an almost pearlescent blue. I think I currently have the M nib on (well, took a glance at them both to compare), so it feels kind of broad and wet for my taste. Also learnt that you kind of have to make sure you post it firmly as the cap may fall off - have you noticed this issue?

 

Would like to know which converter works for you. There's the push, and screw type available. I emailed Cross about it, so let's see if they respond in a timely manner.

 

Anyway, looking forward to keeping an eye on these forums - thinking of getting a Safari or Kaweco Sport next....or a Lamy 2000? (I just graduated, and may be get to pick a very nice pen with my parents).

[flatline]

  On 10/1/2013 at 7:18 AM, metalhe4der said:

Hey flatline,

 

Thanks for posting about this pen. I was at Staples (here in Canada!) and decided to pick this one as my first fountain pen, especially after I saw you write about it (thank goodness for mobile internet). Signed up to this neat place and wanted to thank you for the quick reviews. Can't beat a good looking pen for $19.99.

 

I wouldn't be able to compare it with much else, since it's my first. But I gotta say, I love the color - it's an almost pearlescent blue. I think I currently have the M nib on (well, took a glance at them both to compare), so it feels kind of broad and wet for my taste. Also learnt that you kind of have to make sure you post it firmly as the cap may fall off - have you noticed this issue?

 

Would like to know which converter works for you. There's the push, and screw type available. I emailed Cross about it, so let's see if they respond in a timely manner.

 

Anyway, looking forward to keeping an eye on these forums - thinking of getting a Safari or Kaweco Sport next....or a Lamy 2000? (I just graduated, and may be get to pick a very nice pen with my parents).

 

I don't post the cap on any of my pens, so I hadn't noticed how firmly you need to post to have the cap stay securely. I can't stand writing with a top heavy writing instrument.

 

I don't see any threads inside the sections, so I would guess that the push converter is the proper one (it's the green one, I think). I haven't ordered the converter yet because I'm going to refill the cartridges until I decide if this will be a daily writer for me.

 

Glad you like your pen! Good luck deciding what your next pen will be!

 

--flatline

[makeda98]

Hi Flatline,

 

I bought the Cross Coventry at Staples here in Canada. The price was so good that I bought the companion roller ball as well. I own a few Cross Fountain pens and this writes just a well as the others that I own. It is a excellent pen for the price. Thanks for the review of the two nibs because I started with the fine nib ( personal preference) and was wondering about the medium. I think I will give that a try with a different color ink. Hope you enjoy your pen.

 

--makeda98

[metalhe4der]

  On 10/1/2013 at 4:24 PM, flatline said:

 

I don't post the cap on any of my pens, so I hadn't noticed how firmly you need to post to have the cap stay securely. I can't stand writing with a top heavy writing instrument.

 

I don't see any threads inside the sections, so I would guess that the push converter is the proper one (it's the green one, I think). I haven't ordered the converter yet because I'm going to refill the cartridges until I decide if this will be a daily writer for me.

 

Glad you like your pen! Good luck deciding what your next pen will be!

 

--flatline

 

Thanks for an update! I got an email back from Cross - you're right about the converter. They said to use the green one :-) Either way, I'll probably get one for it later on myself.

[pajaro]

If you can use the green push on converter, you can probably use a Jinhao converter. I have used them on the original Century and Solo.

[flatline]

I've been using this pen for over a week now (not exclusively, but it has been my main pen). The thing that sets this pen apart from my other pens is that it is much more tolerant of cheap paper than my other pens. In fact, this pen feels better on the cheap paper from the department laser printer than it does on the ARC paper that my other pens seem to prefer. I have not had a problem with paper fibers getting between the tines with the Medium nib like I did twice with the Fine nib.

 

A pen that writes well on cheap paper seems like a good thing to have.

 

I hope it continues to like cheap paper once I switch the ink.

 

--flatline

[pajaro]

Nice looking pen, good price. I like it.

[pyramus]

I bought one of these just a few hours ago (at Staples in Canada for $20 less a 10% coupon discount) and am pleased with it.

 

The fine nib isn't as fine as a Japanese nib (the Pilot Prera fine) and I put a relatively wet ink into it (Noodler's 54th Massachusetts), but on Rhodia paper it makes a decently narrow, controlled line. (On Quattro paper it's a bit of a mess — not sloppy, exactly, but broader than I like, much more like a medium nib: I can just imagine how soupy the line would be with the medium nib.) Next time I'll try a drier ink and see how that goes.

 

The pen itself is a beautiful chatoyant blue like a star sapphire. The only disappointment is that the Cross pen takes only its own cartridges, since I have bucketloads of international standard cartridges, but I'll keep doing what I already did: empty out the supplied cartridge with a wide-bore syringe and inject it with the ink of my choice. Until I get a converter, anyway.

[mikeyp]

I picked up one of these today, also the nice blue one, and using the fine nib, it seems to be skipping a lot, and very scratchy. I am not sure if I got a bad one. I am going to drop dripping some extra ink (Noodlers black) onto the nib to see if that stops the skipping issue. I might have to try the medium nib, but I much prefer finer nibs.

[pajaro]

  On 10/26/2013 at 11:30 PM, mikeyp said:

I picked up one of these today, also the nice blue one, and using the fine nib, it seems to be skipping a lot, and very scratchy. I am not sure if I got a bad one. I am going to drop dripping some extra ink (Noodlers black) onto the nib to see if that stops the skipping issue. I might have to try the medium nib, but I much prefer finer nibs.

Maybe the pen is skipping because of manufacturing residues in a new pen.

[mikeyp]

It seems to write much better with the medium nib. I will try some different ink in it and see how the fine nib likes Noodlers black.

[Vendome]

There's a few cheaper ranges of Cross pens knocking around on Ebay and Amazon that are not listed on the official Cross website.

Over the years, I've bought a couple of the Calais BPs and a Revere BP and pencil set. Good, chunky pens, similar to the size of a Sheaffer Prelude Mini BP.

[flatline]

  On 10/27/2013 at 1:26 AM, mikeyp said:

It seems to write much better with the medium nib. I will try some different ink in it and see how the fine nib likes Noodlers black.

 

The M nib is definitely the smoother of the two, but the F nib wasn't bad considering how narrow a line it was writing. It was almost as narrow a line as my Penmanship EF nib, but much smoother than the Penmanship.

 

I consider both the M and F nibs to be useable, but the M nib is certainly more pleasant to write with.

 

I don't know anything about the Cross black ink that came with the pen, but I suspect that the F nib would perform better (but wider) if it had a more free-flowing ink in it.

 

--flatline