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wowbanger2000
December 16th, 2012, 11:02 AM
Hi all,

My name is Chris, and I'm not a geek... yet!

I own a beautiful Cross Century II sterling silver fountain pen with gold nib (the slightly older style with the gold as opposed to the current rhodium plated nib) and that's about it.

I'm hunting around for a pen to take to work as I don't want this one getting borrowed! Need to be cheap, but would really like a gold nib, preferably using bottled ink rather than cartridges, but otherwise not too fussy.

Any pointers appreciated! I've been looking at http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CROSS-CLASSIC-22KT-GOLD-BLACK-FOUNTAIN-PEN-WITH-GIFT-BOX-RARE-LIMITED-/170871405546?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c8babbea, but I can't find any other info about this model on the web.

Anyhow, I'm sure this is the best place for ideas, so let me know what you all think! (I know, ask 10 people's advice and get a dozen answers, but that's the way it is, right?)

Cheers

Chris

fountainpenkid
December 16th, 2012, 11:19 AM
Welcome! I use a Pelikan m400 at school everyday. They are medium sized light weight pens that hold a ton of ink. Never leak (even when dropped onto a hard floor(by accident). And they are piston filled. Vintage is often great as well. Vintage 400s can be found for less than the modern ones (hint:ebay or FPN classifieds). They hold more ink and are just as usable. I think I've just made two bad recommendations though.--Both pens are found over $100...If you want a good gold nibbed pen under $100...sheaffer Snorkels (thought they are thin bodied), or a Parker 51.

Best!

gwgtaylor
December 16th, 2012, 01:36 PM
Welcome! Greetings from Toronto!

The pen in that listing likely has a steel nib with 23k gold electroplating. Nothing wrong with steel nibs. It certainly explains the price which seems fair for this pen. If cross is your thing you should buy it.

Your century likely has a nib made by pelikan in Germany as they made all the cross gold nibs back them. If you like how it writes, I'll +1 fountainpenkid's suggestion. They're not cheap though.

Try watching gregminuskin.com where he often has 14k or 18k nibbed pens for under $100 and the best part is they are usually restored vintage and ready to go.

Good luck and post pics if you pull the trigger on anything interesting.

-gerald

auto winder
December 16th, 2012, 01:41 PM
Welcome :welcome:

Bogon07
December 17th, 2012, 04:36 PM
Hi Wowbanger2000 & welcome to the forum.

snedwos
December 17th, 2012, 04:55 PM
Hi! And welcome!

The Platinum PTL-5000 (http://www.cultpens.com/acatalog/Platinum-PTL-5000-Gold-Nib-Fountain-Pen.html) may be just what you're looking for. I haven't used one myself, but it has decent reviews on FPN (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/114294-platinum-ptl5000-review/).

Or you could go vintage, I'm sure you can find decently priced gold nibbed pens. Something from a third-tier manufacturer, or a major manufacturer's cheaper sub-brands (like Wasp).

Then again, do consider a steel-nib: gold is by no means necessarily superior to steel, especially at the cheaper end of the market. The Platinum I linked to sacrifices a lo of build quality and general niceness just so it can have a gold nib -- at that sub-50 quid price-point you can get really good pens with high quality steel nibs, like the Monteverde Prima (really pretty, and their nibs have an excellent reputation), the Lamy Studio (very difficult to fail with a Lamy) or a TWSBI Mini (you can get 540s too, but hurry, they're disappearing fast). Give this article by Brian Gray (http://edisonpen.com/page.cfm/In-Praise-of-Steel-Nibs) a look: he gives a thorough explanation of why he believes that steel nibs can be just as good as gold. You will have a far greater choice of pens if you allow steel nibs to enter the equation.

But at the end of the day, if you really want a gold nib, I do understand. There is a niceness about gold nibs that is absent from steel nibs -- they do feel different to write with.

Hope this helps!

PS Forgot to say: no affiliation, but I am very very happy to plug every website I've linked to. Well, we'll see if I endorse cultpens when my package arrives tomorrow!

fountainpenkid
December 21st, 2012, 06:18 PM
Welcome! Greetings from Toronto!

The pen in that listing likely has a steel nib with 23k gold electroplating. Nothing wrong with steel nibs. It certainly explains the price which seems fair for this pen. If cross is your thing you should buy it.

Your century likely has a nib made by pelikan in Germany as they made all the cross gold nibs back them. If you like how it writes, I'll +1 fountainpenkid's suggestion. They're not cheap though.

Try watching gregminuskin.com where he often has 14k or 18k nibbed pens for under $100 and the best part is they are usually restored vintage and ready to go.

Good luck and post pics if you pull the trigger on anything interesting.

-gerald
Greg Minuskin has some incredible deals sometimes. Many of the pens he sells are cheap and ugly no name pens, restored, with incredible (really incredible) gold nibs. I have no experience with those...but some are great pens with great nibs---he was selling some very nice pelikans for $25-$75 not too long ago. Keep an eye on his site and email him immediately if you see something you like. His pens go very, very, very fast! He likes it that way, I think.

Best!