Cross Is Not A High Prestige Pen In The Usa

[adamselene]

At least IMHO. I think they are super quality for the money, and had (still have?) great customer service with the efficient woman in
Rhode island.

 

i think Ccross is sort of a poor mans’s St. Dupont, one of my icons. Again, IMHO

 

Thusly, i have a low sales resistance to old Cross pens: Townsend, Pinnacle, Signature, and the exciting, imperfect Verve.

 

Cross cartridges? meh. Converters are fine.

 

My question? Seems to me, Cross Is a premium premier pen in the rest of the world outside the USA, where it gets more respect than at home.

 

 

Your impressions?

 

Adam.

 

 

 

 

 

[lovemy51]

hi there... i have a few. from the Solo to the Townsend (steel nib) -and some i've bought at Staples or office Depot, can't recall.

 

i'm not an expert in Cross pens, nor i ever needed service from them. i think they are made in China and their prices are... just ok.

 

however, just recently i saw a new model at Staples and decided to open the box and have a closer look and feel and i can say any chinese brand out there is better made... in short , i don't have an answer to your Q, but i can see why they are losing prestige.

[StevenC]

I bought my Cross Townsend 22 or 23 years ago, before I knew anything about

fountain pens. In particular, I didn't know that Cross was considered a "department

store pen," the epitome of mass-market mediocrity.

 

The Townsend has worked perfectly for all those years, and except for a slightly

creaky converter, its constituent parts function as well now as they did when new.

It a beautiful, well-put-together pen that has never given me a moment's trouble.

 

Its line is not as elegant or fine as my Carene's (Cross EF is approximately equal

to Waterman's M) but it takes any dry ink (e.g. Pelikan 4001) and writes very smoothly

on just about any paper --- even the crappy legal pads in the office stationery cabinet.

The Carene, on the other hand, though beautiful and well-put-together, is very finicky

about ink and paper.

 

So yeah, Cross may not be a prestige brand, but my Townsend is a great workaday

fountain pen. I was glad to see that Goulet gave it a very positive review.

 

Steve

Edited March 22, 2020 by StevenC

[dogpoet]

I've always got the impression that Cross is seen as a far more prestigious brand in the 'States than it is elsewhere. They're pretty obscure over here.

Might the issue be that they're much better known, as a brand, for fancy ballpoints than for fountain pens? That might leave some on here very unimpressed by them indeed, and it could well be another reason why they're not seen as a prestige brand in mainland Europe as well. Visconti, Montblanc, Waterman and similar brands are all best known for making fountain pens, even if the traditional bank manager's MB is more likely to be a rollerball.

[ArchiMark]

Have known and used Cross pens, since getting their classic gold tone ballpoint and pencil set as gift in high school....way back when....

 

Since then have used several Cross fountain pens; Bailey(?, was a gift...), Townsend and Peerless 125.

 

Townsend and Peerless 125 are both excellent, great pens and writers. Definitely high quality.

 

And all my contacts with Cross nib exchange program for new pen and action regarding it were topnotch service.

 

Highly recommend Cross at least for Townsend and Peerless 125 pens.

 

Mark

[Olya]

I don't know where outside the US Cross would be seen as prestigious, but not in Europe.

Cross was always very American to me and seems to have most of its fans in the US, too (fittingly).

 

In Europe it's kinda hard to come across Cross pens and even worse for their refills.

Via the internet it's easier, but still not easy.

 

Old European brands and US brands which had manufacturing plants in Europe (and even were European brands for perios of time) are far more sought after and prestigious, like Pelikan, Montblanc, Lamy, Parker, Waterman, Aurora... etc etc.

 

Japanese brands are also way more sought-after than Cross and easier to shop as well.

 

Sheaffer seems easier to come by in Europe than Cross, but still more of an "underdog" (so to speak).

[Uncial]

I don't know where outside the US Cross would be seen as prestigious, but not in Europe.

Cross was always very American to me and seems to have most of its fans in the US, too (fittingly).

 

In Europe it's kinda hard to come across Cross pens and even worse for their refills.

Via the internet it's easier, but still not easy.

 

Old European brands and US brands which had manufacturing plants in Europe (and even were European brands for perios of time) are far more sought after and prestigious, like Pelikan, Montblanc, Lamy, Parker, Waterman, Aurora... etc etc.

 

Japanese brands are also way more sought-after than Cross and easier to shop as well.

 

Sheaffer seems easier to come by in Europe than Cross, but still more of an "underdog" (so to speak).

Really? It may not be representative of all of Europe but every pen store I've been in; in Austria, Uk, Ireland and Spain, the pen supply they all have in common is Cross. The impression people have of them here in Ireland is that they are not very high end pens but they are solid and reliable and make nice gifts.

 

Ive never seen a single Sailor pen for sale in a pen shop in Ireland, Spain, Italy, UK or Austria. Aurora are rarely seen outside of Italy in my experience, but Cross (like Montblanc and Pelikan) are quite ubiquitous.

Edited March 28, 2020 by Uncial

[jchch1950]

In southeast Asia Cross is a rather popular brand. It isn't the most common pens ,but you can buy them without too much effort in department stores, some books stores and stationary places.

[dan in montreal]

I've always associated them with big box office supplies stores like Staples. I have a Solo, an ATX and a Century II that have not seen any action for a while. They're OK, the Solo has a nib made by a Japanese manufacturer, Pilot if I remember, and it's good enough. The SS nibs on the other models are very stiff but write OK.

They're just not that interesting to me - I was curious when I purchased them, got over them quickly thereafter. Their main drawback for me are the proprietary carts and converters - and who needs two types or carts / converters in the same brand?

 

I certainly have never thought of them as a premium brand. If that was their aim, they've missed the mark, in Canada at least.

[Olya]

Really? It may not be representative of all of Europe but every pen store I've been in; in Austria, Uk, Ireland and Spain, the pen supply they all have in common is Cross. The impression people have of them here in Ireland is that they are not very high end pens but they are solid and reliable and make nice gifts.

 

Ive never seen a single Sailor pen for sale in a pen shop in Ireland, Spain, Italy, UK or Austria. Aurora are rarely seen outside of Italy in my experience, but Cross (like Montblanc and Pelikan) are quite ubiquitous.

I don't know, I've had real trouble finding any Cross stuff a couple of years ago when I was also looking out for Sheaffer stuff, which was not quite as unavailable as Cross, in shops, department stores and online shops. Even on Amazon refills for instance were overpriced compared to other brands, that is still the case for Sheaffer. I had quickly given up looking out for Cross, as I didn't want to invest into yet another proprietary system (which seemed inferior to me compared to the brands I already used), so don't know what it is like now, except they recently seem to have released a new (pretty) model for around €20, which I'd normally find quite tempting along their Botanicals series, but I remain firm in my stance not to get Cross stuff because of their cartridges.

[XV107]

I can't say that my experience suggests that Cross is uncommon in the UK. All the dedicated pen shops or pen sections (not that sort of section...) in major stores that have them which I've visited (sadly declining in number) have had a decent stock of Cross pens. When I was growing up, Cross wasn't perhaps seen as being as prestigious as, say, Waterman or Parker's higher end pens (we're talking about those from the late 70s/early 80s), but it wasn't a pen which was regarded as being just cheap and cheerful; the stocking of the brand in higher-end department stores and as a staple of specialist pen shops hinted towards the brand being seen as something more than just a 'run of the mill' brand.

 

I'd note, though, that the lower price-point pens are now available more widely in the UK (the Debenhams chain of stores carries them, as do WH Smiths newsagents (the latter always did sell the refills and some of the ballpoints, but again as their higher-priced offerings); this has also been accompanied by a considerable reduction in the range of nib choices - whereas my Cross collection contains a mixture of Broad, Stub (possibly italic?) and the 'BBJ' imprinted nib (I believe the 'J' may be a stylised 'I'?) - it seems impossible to obtain any of these in the UK; the choice seems to be fine or medium, and that's it - which is the same choice as the Parker 15/Jotter fountain pen... So perhaps there has been an erosion of the brand's image over here in the past 15-20 years?

[Anderglan]

... So perhaps there has been an erosion of the brand's image over here in the past 15-20 years?

 

Yes, around 2005 or 2006 IIRC, also in Austria something took place that did look like "clearance sales" regarding CROSS items. IMHO, CROSS fountain pens have always been scarce in Austria, but today, even CROSS ballpoints are scarce in Austria; I suppose the stationers here do not have any new stock, just NOS...

 

 

[Intensity]

I was briefly interested in a Cross Botanica pen then read reviews on Amazon about the design on those pends fading over time, quite dramatically. Was pretty disappointing for a fairly premium pen.

[jslallar]

I wouldn't know about the rest of the world, but in Pakistan Cross is a brand right up there and competing with the best in the business (except of course the high end designers).

.

most people I know who use fountain pens as a routine and have more than a few pen do have a Cross in their armamentarium

[dadbar]

Back in the last decade (1970's, 1980's) Cross was the typical corporate pen and most companies had their logos put on their ubiquitous ballpoint pens for salespeople and corporate gifts. When I worked for Dupont, they gave these pens to people like water bottles. Typical 5 year service anniversary gift or tradeshow giveaway. I still see lots of these pens on Ebay with other corporate logos.

[welch]

Back in the last decade (1970's, 1980's) Cross was the typical corporate pen and most companies had their logos put on their ubiquitous ballpoint pens for salespeople and corporate gifts. When I worked for Dupont, they gave these pens to people like water bottles. Typical 5 year service anniversary gift or tradeshow giveaway. I still see lots of these pens on Ebay with other corporate logos.

 

It was the same at GE into the mid-90's. I still have a brown ballpoint set from 1986, with the old GE logo (more curled waves) and a gray set from about 1993, plus a brown select-tip. I gave my wife a stainless steel fountain pen around 1990.

 

The Cross ballpoint certainly was a prestige ballpoint, at least until the late '90's when commercial people and managers began wearing Montblanc ballpoints.

[N1003U]

The Century ballpoint/pencil sets have certainly been ubiquitous, especially as business/academic/etc. gifts throughout my American lifetime (a period of time spanning the 1960s to now). Cross Centuries were (and apparently in some cases still are) modest, decent-quality, usually bulletproof workhorses that make great gifts for anyone who writes. Note I did not say they were the most comfortable or practical things ever, but they do look good and are technically functional. That the big-box office supply stores and college bookstores still stock them and Cross is still in business tells me that they are at least still selling.

 

In this day and age, I would argue that virtually any non-disposable writing instrument has at least a tiny degree of prestige associated with it, in that it generally has an above average market value.

 

What is prestigious is often in the eye of the beholder. Some will tell you that a Nobel Prize in one of the most prestigious recognitions one can get. Others will tell you that the Nobel Committee is rife with political hacks who have their own agendas. A lot depends on where you stand and how you sit. And yes, the money is a part of the equation. I am sort of in the camp with what Matt Armstrong said in a couple of his reviews, in that anyone who pays more than a nominal amount for something to write with, is buying, even in some small part, this elusive thing I think we are attempting here to define as "prestige".

 

My personal experience with Cross consists of a few of the aforementioned Century ballpoint/pencil sets, as well as four fountain pens in my current collection, two ATXs and two Townsends. I find the fountain pens to be generally well constructed out of decent materials and average to marginal writers (the nibs do not achieve, in my experience, a standard I would expect from a fountain pen in the price ranges that I paid).

 

My experience is also that the Centuries are instantly recognizable by almost anyone over the age of about 30. Does that make them prestigious, even a little? On the other hand, the ATXes and Townsends are recognized by virtually no one except the odd fountain pen freak ("odd" in multiple senses of the word ), and are recognized only as unusual fashion accouterments by a few others (I assume due to their size and/or colors and/or visible presence in my pocket)--in short, virtually no one.

 

All that said, I just pulled the trigger and ordered a Peerless Special Edition NYC, for almost exclusively emotional reasons. I spent four years working and living in midtown Manhattan, and I had an office with a lovely view of the Chrysler Building. I am expecting that Peerless model to remind me of a lovely time in my career. Technically what I expect is a moderately heavy metal pen, in a large diameter, with good workmanship. Further, I expect the Sailor nib to be a super performer. As for the overall balance and writing comfort, I guess I'll just have to wait and see. Is that prestige (including consideration that the thing is somewhat unique and costs $400 - $500, with an MSRP of $625)?

 

For me the pen is a rather expensive, arguably good-looking (or not), functional piece of jewelry, from Cross, that evokes good memories.

 

Yea, I suppose that is for me prestigious, at least some sense of the word.

Edited April 23, 2020 by N1003U

[TitoThePencilPimp]

I was given a gold filled cross ballpoint. An earlier model, maybe 80's? It has a very high sentimental value for me, because at the time, I worked as a TA for the local community college in math department working with people who were trying to get their life in order (adults much older than me).

 

I really enjoy the pen, my only ballpoint.

 

But looking at some of the designs of the Cross Pens. I do not justify the price for some of the higher end Cross Fountain pens. Would much rather get a Sailor Sapporo at that price.

[Tseg]

In general, outside of pen collecting forums I doubt most pen brands mean much to most people, so Cross is no exception. For me, Cross to pens is like Buick is/was to automobiles... a former mainstream brand my dad would own.

 

With that said, this morning I just dropped a pretty penny placing an order for the Cross Peerless 125. Why? I wanted a girthier pen with a Sailor nib. My Sailor 1911 Large that I ordered a month ago is still stuck in Japan, and I understand it may be months for me to get.

 

A week ago I didn't know the Peerless 125 existed and would have never considered a Cross pen. But at the price point I found it in Europe I decided to make a move... this is a Fine, my pen stuck in Japan is a Medium and I have a Broad King of Pen. I'm looking forward to getting my new Cross... to date I've basically have seen only glowing reviews if you can become accepting of the bulbous cap, which unlike everyone else, actually appeals to me.

[landrover]

It’s a pity the clip is not better designed, and more robust.

Having said that they are all superb writers, and I frequently use a Townsend and a Peerless.

I’m sure the earlier pens, from either USA or Ireland, were much better made.

I even use a Townsend Ballpoint and Rollerball in some instances!