Cross and FranklinCovey Overview

[gbryal]

In this and the following posts I will give an overview of 5 pens, made by Cross, also known as A.T. Cross. Four of these bear the Cross marque, and one is branded as FranklinCovey, also known as Franklin Covey, a purveyor of planners and related office supplies.

In this post I'll show a few pictures and discuss what these pens have in common and how they differ from one another.

The pens I am examining, pictured below, left to right:

Cross Peerless 125 in Obsidian Black Lacquer, M 18k nib - $475 from Cross. This one was purchased from Paradise Pen Co. for $405.
Cross Townsend, Smooth Touch Black, M steel nib - $275 as ballpoint set from Cross. This one was $48.75 from Judd's on eBay.
Cross Bailey, Black, M nib, $44.99 from OfficeMax
Cross Aventura, Blue/Chrome, M nib $39.99 from OfficeMax
FranklinCovey Freemont, M nib $25.99 on Amazon, I got mine at Staples.

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Why am I including the FranklinCovey? This pen is manufactured by Cross, or by whomever Cross has manufacture their pens, and is branded as FranklinCovey.

At once, the Cross design language is apparent, with several features shared among the pens. The Townsend and Peerless 125 both have a tapered tassie-like cap. The Peerless 125 has a Swarovski crystal in it (which on this pen is very subtle) and on the Townsend just a recessed black dot. These two pens also feature an angled clip.

The Peerless, Townsend, Bailey, and FranklinCovey all share a chrome barrel end, and on the Townsend and Peerless this provides a satisfying snap point for the cap when posting.

The Aventura and Bailey share a nib shape, sort of a curved lobster-back sort of affair. These nibs are also rather small.

All of these pens feature a some kind of metal accent at the cap end, with the Bailey, Townsend, and Freemont having a double band. The Peerless 125 has a thin lip on the cap, and and a wide ring at the section-end of the barrel which screws to the section.

All but the Peerless have snap-on caps. The Peerless screws on.

I believe the Townsend is available with a gold nib, however I am pretty sure mine is steel. The lower priced Bailey, Freemont, and Aventura have steel nibs, and the Peerless has an 18k rhodium-plated nib.

All of these are smooth writers. The Cross Peerless 125 compares with the Sailor 1911 Large Realo I own in terms of writing experience, and lays down a medium-fine line. The other Crosses have a broad-medium line which is saturated but not overly wet. The Freemont writes a somewhat dry, fine line.

It occurred to me that as a commonly gifted pen, and one ubiquitous in North American office stores, these might be tuned in such a way to be favorable to common papers and in the case of the FranklinCovey Freemont, planners. Planners, with many of my fountain pens, have paper that bleeds like crazy for me.

I tested these pens on Tomoe River, Rhodia dot-pad, a cheap Staples planner, and 20 lb. Staples multipurpose paper. As you can see in the pictures, all of these pens wrote on all of the papers without difficulty or significant bleeding. The ink used on all pens but the Bailey was Waterman's Intense Black, from a converter (all of the pens were able to use some kind of converter, though not all came with one.) The Bailey was using a Cross cartridge. The Freemont, being a little smaller than the rest and a little finer, seems well-suited to carrying with a planner or a journal.

Overviews of the individual pens to follow, and I'll talk a little more about how they write and how I like them.

(Top to bottom: Rhodia, Tomoe River, Staples Multipurpose, Staples Planner)
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The nibs: (l-r: Bailey, Aventura, Freemont, Townsend, Peerless 125)
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[Max Dog]

Thanks for the comparison and pictures.
Of these the Townsend is the only one I have. I agree with your point about the pens being tuned for use on more varieties of papers. My Townsend is well behaved with moderate wetness so it does not bleed through everything.

[Marsilius]

I really liked these reviews. I got a few of these on impulse and discount. I have a Cross Stratford that writes a bit finer and smoother than my Baileys. I can't tell how much they differ because of individual pen or how much by model. My only "complaint" is, as you hinted, that cap removal is not for the weak of hand strenght or arthritic. Also, the first one I bought was an Aventura, and the cap woudl sometimes come off at an angle too easily. But no real compaints at the price.

[junglejim]

The Cross Peerless 125 uses Japanese Sailor nibs and are usually one size finer than European sizes, so a medium nib would write like a European fine. You can also order the Cross Peerless with a Zoom nib, which is only made by Sailor.

All the Best.