Cross pens universally hated?

[ac12]

Anne,
As I understand, Cross bottle ink is Pelikan ink :-)
Their cartridge ink however is made by someone else.

[Anne]

Anne,
As I understand, Cross bottle ink is Pelikan ink :-)
Their cartridge ink however is made by someone else.

Oh! I didn't know that - Thanks. I only have cartridges and that was what I liked. So, the cartridge ink would be different from the bottle?

[Jerome Tarshis]

Some years ago, a Cross employee using the handle refillczar posted frequently on Fountain Pen Network. One of his messages asserted that the ink in Cross cartridges was made by Chad Labs, which (I learned from looking them up on the Web) was a company based in the United States that supplied ink to various brand-name manufacturers. That was some time ago. I have no idea whether it is still true.

It is widely believed in the pen community that Cross inks are identical to Pelikan inks of the same colors. (In my experience, in the United States, Cross inks have been cheaper, though.)

I have encountered pen people whose opinions I respect who believe the two inks are similar but not identical. So we're not dealing with a universally-held opinion. However, for practical advice, I would put forward an epigram by Gertrude Stein: "A difference to be a difference must make a difference." If it doesn't make a perceptible difference to you whether you're writing with Cross or Pelikan black, they're the same ink to you.

[Anne]

Some years ago, a Cross employee using the handle refillczar posted frequently on Fountain Pen Network. One of his messages asserted that the ink in Cross cartridges was made by Chad Labs, which (I learned from looking them up on the Web) was a company based in the United States that supplied ink to various brand-name manufacturers. That was some time ago. I have no idea whether it is still true.

It is widely believed in the pen community that Cross inks are identical to Pelikan inks of the same colors. (In my experience, in the United States, Cross inks have been cheaper, though.)

I have encountered pen people whose opinions I respect who believe the two inks are similar but not identical. So we're not dealing with a universally-held opinion. However, for practical advice, I would put forward an epigram by Gertrude Stein: "A difference to be a difference must make a difference." If it doesn't make a perceptible difference to you whether you're writing with Cross or Pelikan black, they're the same ink to you.

Maybe I Should get a bottle of it and compare them now I don't have any Pelikan inks ( not that I know of! ) anyway, I am overdue for a bottle.

[mbshrekito]

3 Cross Townsends here. Some of the smoothest nibs I have. Amazing nibs. I think over the years Cross didnt have much variety and that translated into low interest. I still really like mine as daily users. The most inovative nib was the Verve, quite popular, then unfortunately discontinued. It's things like that, I believe, that took them out of the market.

I have six Cross Verve with gold nibs and platinum finish - the sizing of the nibs was more eastern than western with a broad probably being more like a medium and so on - I have broad medium and extra fine which are excellent writers. I had two broads tweaked to be cursive italic and italic by John Sarowka.

Then pens have lifetime warranties with a small handling fee.

The nib design is very nice although one of the ones I had tweeked turned out to have the annoying habit of inking your fingers (not related to Mr Sarowka's excellent work) and was fixed under warranty €6 but losing the tweak in the process

It's unfortunate that they discontinued this pen as from the ones I tried at the time it was one of the best especially the extra fine!