What CROSS pen is this? Please help identifying

[Lexaf]

Recently I bought a rather large job lot of fountain pens from e-Bay. More than 30 pens, all more or less in a state of decomposition. Some pens in the lot were quite exotic, so I think I will need some help of the esteemed members of FPG for identification.

The first question here in this tread is for a Cross pen.
It had a broken top, there where the clip was fixed on the cap. I was able to repair that and now I have a decent looking Cross cartridge filler. I do not know much about Cross pens as I do not collect them.
I do know the Cross Century, Century II and the Townsend, all modern contemporary pens, but this pen looks different, maybe a bit older, but not very old. It's a cartridge filler, made from black plastic with gold plated trimmings. The way the clip is attached to the cap - with a ring and a screwed-on top - is very uncommon for Cross pens.
The name Cross is on the top of the clip and 3 times around on the cap ring. No other names, numbers or codes. The gold plated nib is signed Cross - M.
The design and model seem 1980's / 1990's to me.

Never saw this pen before. Who can help with a model name and production year? Some pictures here below.
Thanks.

Lex

DSCF9490.JPG

DSCF9494.JPG

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[franzdimson]

I believe you have the Cross Solo. I have the Rollerball version of that one also from eBay from a long time ago.

Not sure about the year though. 1990s?


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[Lexaf]

Bingo! That's it. When I Google on 'Cross Solo' I get lots of references. Thanks Franzdimson!

[KrazyIvan]

Yup, I had one exactly like it but there is another pen exactly like it that I can't remember the name. Supposedly Pilot made these for Cross. If you pull the feed and put it up to a bright light you will see it is actually a transparent smokey color like some pilot feeds.

[Lexaf]

Yup, I had one exactly like it but there is another pen exactly like it that I can't remember the name. Supposedly Pilot made these for Cross. If you pull the feed and put it up to a bright light you will see it is actually a transparent smokey color like some pilot feeds.

In the meantime, knowing now it's a Cross Solo, I Googled some more and dug up an old posting ( March 2012) from ' the other site ' ( You know, FPN, the name that is not to be mentioned here like 'the one whose name is not to be spoken...' yessss Voldemort, brrrr ).

Read here about the relation with Japanese Pilot. The Solo is said to be a Pilot-Namiki product made for Cross.
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...ns-hands-down/
I did a writing test and its true what others wrote about this pen and the nib: it's buttery smooth!
An interesting pen for its price. I found it is stil for sale (with the nice black trimming) on Amazon for > us$30,--

Picture stolen from Amazon:
Amazon Cross Pilot.jpg

BTW, the black one with black trimmings would make one an instant member of Paul Erano's Black Pen Society, right?
I'd love to have one. Just because it's all black.

[Chrissy]

It looks like a nice enough pen. How did you do the repair on the cap?

[Lexaf]

It looks like a nice enough pen. How did you do the repair on the cap?

The little black cap top came off. It is screwed in from the inside through the plastic inner cap and so it holds the ring of the clip and the plastic top in place. The black thingy was broken in two. As the material is acryl, I could glue the two halves together with cyanoacrylate glue. Yes, sometimes the use of 'super glue' makes sense, even with the repair of pens! I let it rest for a day to cure the joint and then screwed the whole thing together again. To prevent the two halves of the plastic top come loose again I used a tiny bit longer stainless Parker screw that went a bit further in the upper halve of the cap than the original screw. I ground off the new screw to be just long enough to prevent it coming out of the top. The top cap is a tiny bit askew as you probably can see in one of the pictures. , but as it was a simple repair of a simple pen I did not mind. Purpose was to get it functional again.