Cross pens universally hated?

[Music and Ink]

I just got my first fountain pen a year ago. A Cross Adventura. And I found through youtube that almost no one has videos about it. Even The Pen Habit admitted that he had incredibly negative opinions of Cross even though he had never used one. (He changed after trying out the Cross Century. But I have tried other fountain pens and the Cross doesn't seem bad to me. It starts up immediately even if not used for days and has decent line variation. It also has a nice looking style. Has anyone used a cross adventura? And if so, what did you think? Thanks for reading all this!

[migo984]

Sadly there is a lot of snobbery, and inverse snobbery, in the FP world. People shun Cross, and are harshly critical; it seems to be the accepted position, even by people who admit they've never tried them.

I actually think Cross are OK pens.

I don't have an Adventura but do have two others. First is an Apogee Black Star, bought for me as a surprise present by my parents quite a few years ago. At one stage I used it everyday at work, but my preference now is for less heavy pens and the Apogee is quite weighty. It was dependable, a good writer and has a very nice 18k nib. I'd never get rid of it.

The second is a Townsend. Completely coincidentally I got this out of storage yesterday - I'd forgotten I had it. I had to look up my records as I have no memory of buying it. I got it for £8 on eBay. A bargain! I inked it yesterday and it writes really well. Again it's a heavy pen, which is probably why I tucked it away, but it's quite attractive and well balanced in the hand. I think the nib (steel with a bit of spring) is destined to get an italic grind by my partner

I hope you continue to ignore all the negativity about Cross and enjoy using your Adventura for many years.

[penwash]

@music and ink:

Cross Aventura is not an italic nib nor does it flex.
How are you able to produce line variation with it?

Just curious. Back when I just got started a couple month ago, I almost get either a Bailey or Aventura.

[Sandy Fry]

I have several Cross pens. I really can't fault any of them. Nice writers. Cheap as chips. Solid construction.

Bash away. I like them and will continue to use them.

David

[top pen]

There was a similar thread a few months by Iowks. I don't mind Cross pens to be honest but they don't scream out buy me either.

http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread....364#post141364

[migo984]

There was a similar thread a few months by Iowks. I don't mind Cross pens to be honest but they don't scream out buy me either.

http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread....364#post141364

I guess we we all have an indifference to one brand or another. I'm underwhelmed by Montblanks.

[Music and Ink]

I don't mean to give a useless answer, but the way I get flex is by adding pressure. It isn't a flex, but it does have nice line variation. It's actually nicely timid for normal writing.

[Music and Ink]

Thanks for the extensive reply. So what happened? Was a picture taken of the owner of Cross using a ball point?

[jar]

My brother-in-law loves Cross pens so I gave all mine to him. They are nice pens, but he liked them more than I did.

[da vinci]

I like Townsends. I have 4 and think the sterling silver pen is elegant and the jade and lapis versions are special. The B and BB nibs give a bit of line variation and are smooth.

I also like the Century and I have a Giraffe that was given to me as a present which is much treasured.

[penwash]

@Sandy Fry:

Which Cross model (modern and vintage) is your favorite, David?

Related, is there a vintage Cross model that was very popular? Like Duofold or P51 for Parker?

[carlos.q]

I have never used or bought a Cross pen. It's not that I hate them but I find their designs rather uninspiring.

That being said, the fact that I can find one of these at my local OfficeMax brings a smile to my lips:

cross.jpg

[fountainpenkid]

The first fountain pens I had were Crosses. They are a little dry or 'off' in their design and not particularly well made, but I certainly don't hate them. They can be very nice, albeit nail-ish, writers, and the screw-in converter is a plus. There is one Cross pen, the Verve, that I actually would like to add to my collection someday.

[Music and Ink]

Yup that's it. Not a bad pen.

[mhosea]

I just have the one Cross Century II fountain pen. It was nice with the steel nib. Very smooth, nothing wrong with it, but I swapped it out for a Sheaffer 14K nib from the early 50's.

Anyway, I've never been a Cross "hater" at all, just haven't been all that tempted by many Cross fountain pens. I happen to like the classic Cross BP look, though, and the Century II wears it well, but on the thicker pens it begins to look "stretched" to me, unnatural, wrong, an SD channel stretched to the width of an HD TV. I will say this much for Cross, though. Their thread-in converters are very good, and they know how to do a durable matte black coating, which is more than I can say for most pen makers. I've got a matte black Cross BP in a bin that has been rolling around for 30+ years, and it's just a bit scratched and scuffed. A Sheaffer Targa would be showing a lot of raw brass in its stead. Of course Cross owns Sheaffer now.

[KBeezie]

Hated?

Not by me anyways, I don't know enough about them and visually outside of one of the peerless none of them appeal to me.

[amk]

One factor making Cross less loved may be that unlike the majors (Parker, Sheaffer, Waterman) Cross doesn't have a bit vintage heritage, having concentrated on ballpoints and pencils. And modern Cross pens are mainly rather thin, which isn't in favour, and rather heavy, and altogether somewhat dated in their looks. (That said I have a lot of time for the Cross ATX, a very nice EDC pen. Indestructible.)

You may not find an awful lot of love here for the current generation of Sheaffers and Parkers, either. The big US pen companies are no longer leading the field in terms of design or functionality.

[brunico]

They've always struck me as kind of blah, like Parker and Sheaffer, and a bit dated, but not in a good way. As they don't seem to do italic nibs, that means they're not a proper pen maker in my book, so why should I give them a second thought?

Edit. I was posting at the same time as amk - I guess stationers and department stores in the UK have left us both with a similar impression of these three companies!

[jar]

Cross owns Sheaffer now so it will be interesting to see the future products.

[Scrawler]

I do not own any Cross pens. A few months ago an acquaintance handed me his new Aventura and asked me to take a look at it because it was dry and skipping. A quick clean, floss and shim got it working, but what disturbed me about it was the ease with which the nib rotated in its socket. I really do not think a nib should be mobile. I do not know if it is a design issue, or a QA issue, but it did rather put me off.