A Sterling Tradition. . .

The current iteration of the sterling silver pen and pencil set by Cross, available via Amazon for a reasonable price.

Some people are fans of interesting and unique fountain pens.  For instance, my wife, The Grand Duchess, owns and uses several routinely.  

I, on the other hand, have never quite gotten the hang of them and prefer to spare my attire from possible mishaps with a temperamental ink reservoir.  Far better, in my view, to use more reliable, though nevertheless interesting models of ballpoint pens and occasionally mechanical pencils.  My collection is small, but includes a few such items by Cross and Parker, used each week, plus a couple of no name varieties, picked up here and there, which don't necessarily scream cheap conference giveaways.

Imagine my delight a week or so ago when I unearthed a long-forgotten sterling silver ballpoint pen and pencil set by Cross in a dresser drawer.  These were given to me by good ol' Mom way back in June of 1985 when I graduated from high school.  The black ink refill and pencil leads still function after all this time.  That comes, I guess, from keeping the pen and pencil in their case largely unused for almost 34 years.

Cross pens and pencils have a bit of history in my family.  My father, on completing stockbroker school in Manhattan during Spring 1974, purchased himself such a set -- a bit more elegant and refined than, say, a Papermate or disposable Bic -- as he geared up for a career in the financial sector and moved even further afield into Brooks Bros. territory.  Not too long after, he presented my maternal grandfather (a Southwick man) with a similar pen and pencil set.  

It seems that the apple didn't fall too far from the tree at least insofar as writing instruments are concerned.  After a bit of polish this afternoon with a jewel cloth to remove the tarnish of three plus decades, my own pen and pencil are ready to go inside my inner left jacket pocket tomorrow morning.  A sterling family tradition continues.

-- Heinz-Ulrich