Cross Year of the Dragon Special Edition Fountain Pen

Image Source: Cloudofchaos

While well known for pens in general and ballpoints in particular, Cross does not enjoy an especially good reputation among fountain pen aficionados. The knocks against its products are that they tend to be plain and of indifferent quality. There is an unspoken basis for this complaint as well. Cross's decision to mass-market their products--they are among the few fountain pens to be had at bix box outlets like Staples--is no doubt viewed with disdain from those used to buying from specialty stores.

Happily for those open-minded to the possibility, the result of both the mass market strategy and the lack of prestige appeal among pen people is that Cross fountain pens are quite inexpensive compared to others in the same tier. I picked up a new special edition Year of the Dragon fountain pen (in Chinese red, appropriately enough) for about $130 from an online seller.

Like many other special editions, Cross takes an existing model, in this case the Sauvage, and then modifies the design for the theme of the edition. This pen is lacquer over brass, so it is not a light pen, but it is not especially heavy either, even with the cap posted. It is well-balanced and not fatiguing.

(Rant: It drives me crazy that so many people consider the heft of a fountain pen a symbol of quality. Chinese manufacturers, especially, seemed to have picked up on this and sell mostly brass bodied designs that often weigh upwards of 30g, which is a ton for a writing implement. What's even worse is that the caps of many Chinese pens are made from solid brass, worsening the overall weight problem and destroying the possibility of using the cap posted. The otherwise lovely Kaigelu 316 suffers from this problem in spades. End of rant.)

As a writer, the Dragon performs extremely well, at least as well as others in its same class such as Parker Sonnets or Pelikan M400s. It is smooth, consistent, and responsive. The nib is stiff, but offers enough feedback to provide a good connection between the writer and the paper.

The biggest asset of the pen is its lovely design. The inlaid dragon pattern is gorgeous. Though not apparent from photos, there is a translucent diamond pattern of red on red in the body of the pen. This gives a 3 dimensional look to the design that is unique to this particular pen. The design also extends to presentation. The pen comes in a handsome red and black box with a thoughtfully created stand inside allowing you to display the pen with the box open.

I do have a quibble with Cross however. The pen does not come with an ink converter. This is truly ridiculous--converters cost little to manufacture (though the markup at the retail level is obnoxious, but that's another rant) and make a big difference to those wishing to use the pen with bottled ink. Not including such a thing simply looks tacky and undermines the overall presentation. It would be like purchasing a Lexus or BMW and having them tell you that it costs extra if you would like a radio in the car. Sure the car can be used without a radio, but one expects such "luxuries" when buying a high-end product.

Recommendation: Buy