In the UK, Cross was the brand that was used for employee of the month - and commercial branding. If you want to impress an official.who doesn't know a lot about pens you could get a Cross Century rolled gold set for not a lot of money on e-bay (make sure it isn't engraved). They are nice looking pens - and a lot of them ended up in a drawer "for best" and never got used.

Montblanc was the pen given to directors and folk signing fat contracts. Again, lots of these turn up on the UK market that are practiaclly unused.

A new Parker has the advantage in that their refills are ubiquitous - at least in Europe every stationer has at least a box of 5 royal blue cartridges. Both the IM and Sonnet (the Sonnets' nibs are better) look nice, and you usually get good discounts from online retailers. Don't pay the list price.

It depends in your budget - less than £50 a Parker IM, under £100 the Cross Century II, over £100 the Parker Sonnet.