Well, this is a bit sudden. This attractive pen has just arrived today, but as it was ordered and received all within 21 hours, it seems fitting to continue the momentum with some initial impressions.

I have had my eye on a Peerless 125 since they were first introduced a few years ago. I saw them first in Fortnum & Mason, where the gold plated guilloche version was on display under the bright lights. I looked at a black resin version in Harrods once. A few years passed. I acquired my Cross Townsend in quartz blue and wished that a Peerless would be made in that finish.

Seeing on a friend’s Instagram post this weekend that there is now a quartz blue option, my interest was reawakened. I wrestled with the usual conflicts. Did I need it? No. Would it be better than, say my Aurora 88? Probably not. But it had enough differences from my Townsend to make it a worthwhile purchase, namely a wider more comfortable girth, a screw on cap, a Sailor nib, the top-of-the-range kudos and a sparkly blue Swarovski jewel in the finial! Also, on offer at £235 it seemed good value at half the price of a Montblanc Classique, always a dangerous line of argument.

The unboxing.

The pen arrives in a large, clamshell type cardboard box with a cardboard outer sleeve. First impressions seen in real life and natural light, are favourable with the beautiful rich blue glossy finish looking very handsome against the polished silver coloured fittings. Unscrewing the cap I was eager to examine the medium nib. It looked nicely tuned with a narrow tine gap visible under the loupe and the customary Sailor tipping which was flattened to form facets on the face of the nib and at the sides where the tipping is pointed like a spear head.

Beneath the pen tray, was a little foam compartment with a Cross, screw-fit converter, two black cartridges and a little velvet draw-string pouch for the pen. The pen no longer comes with an acrylic block display stand.

Description.

Although the cap and barrel feel smoothly lacquered at first, there is actually a texture from the striations beneath the lacquer which run down the length of the blue barrel, all the way round. On the cap, they do not quite go all the way round; there is a gap, of about one sixth of the diameter on one side of the cap where the lines are absent, not that you would notice unless you looked hard. If you put your finger nail against the barrel or cap and rotate the pen, you can feel the little grooves, which make for an interesting finish.

The cap finial has a little crater, like a volcano with a blue Swarovski faceted crystal set inside, which is quite lovely. I also found a serial number laser etched around the finial. Mine was ATX46987. I take it that the ATX stands for A. T. Cross Company LLC. Alonzo Townsend Cross was the son of Richard Cross who had founded the business in 1846. The truncated, bullet shaped cap top is unmistakably Cross. The pocket clip has CROSS in a black enamel background and is very firm. This makes it very secure for a shirt pocket although rather hard to use easily if you wish to show off that crystal. I am more likely to use a pen case.

The cap unscrews in just over two full turns, a much nicer experience than uncapping the Townsend, although taking a moment longer.

The section is smooth and quite broad, where the pen rests on your middle finger. I find it very comfortable to hold although I have yet to try a long writing session. You may find yourself gripping near the cap threads but these are not sharp or uncomfortable. The barrel has a band saying “CROSS PEERLESS 125” on a black enamel background which is still visible even when the pen is capped although mostly hidden when held for writing. At the other end of the barrel, there is an impressive shiny ferrule, with a black groove near the end which I think secures the cap when posted.

The cap, despite its large size, is thin and feels lighter than expected and posts well, to a depth of about 35mm, more than half of the cap’s length. Early tests show that I can write comfortably with the cap posted or unposted. I rather like the added length and girth at the back end, particularly with barrels that taper like this. When posted, the pen lays back nicely in the web of the hand.

To my delight, there is a date code around the metal collar for the cartridge or converter. Mine reads 1219.

The nib and writing performance.

I flushed the nib and feed with water a few times, before filling with Cross blue bottled ink and then tried the pen on Leuchtturm paper. This is an 18k nib, marked as a medium but writes rather more like a medium – fine by usual western standards. It is a firm nib. The Sailor feedback is there. I found that as a lefty-overwriter, the pen is smoother in underwriter style since the nib soon moves from the sweet spot when in my overwriter mode and you feel the edges of the faceted tipping. Ink flow was good, neither too wet nor too dry. I tried the Cross blue ink for the first fill, although paler than say a Montblanc royal blue.

Likes and dislikes.

I do appreciate the extra girth of this pen and the screw cap. It is very attractive and tactile and the weight is substantial without being burdensome. I was intrigued to get one and try it for myself after reading good reports online. The nib made by Sailor feels very different from the Townsend’s nib made by Pelikan which was smoother and more forgiving, but the Sailor feedback is distinctive and special and, paired with the Peerless’s more girthy barrel, makes a comfortable and luxurious writing instrument.

For dislikes, I would only suggest that the pocket clip could be improved if sprung and a little easier to operate, but having said that, I never took to the Cross Apogee style of sprung clip, which slipped around from side to side. The Peerless clip will at least grip your clothing like its life depended on it.

Conclusions.

I had little hope of resisting the charms of this beautiful stately pen and will look forward to trying some longer writing sessions and different inks, in the months to come, God willing.