America's oldest manufacture of fine writing instruments also produce the most resilient pens in the world. A.T. Cross guarantee it .. for life.

When FORTUNE magazine decided to investigate the 'Products that America Makes Best', only one writing instrument was chosen. "Quality is the element that drives this company, it is the reason for its success and it is why people purchase Cross writing instruments. The quality always comes through, they are dependable, excellent value for the dollar and our lifetime guarantee covers incidences that would be unheard of in a normal guarantee", says John E. Buckley, Executive Vice President at Cross.

Cases which attest to the lifetime unconditional guarantee can be found in the 'Dead Pen Department' which houses a collection of Cross instruments that have fallen foul of both human error and incredible misadventure. some bear the imprint of a wayward automobile tyre. Others have plummeted from shirt pocket heights so many times that they are nigh on unrecognisable and still others have met a taudry end at the hands of aggressive seafood; such as the man whose gold pencil was snatched by a lobster in a U.S. restaurant, or the fisherman who upon gutting his prize catch retrieved a Cross pen from its stomach. Letters recount horror tales of baptism by washing machine, tumble dryer; loss in a labyrinth of men's room plumbing and a tour of duty in Vietnam but the most heartening triumph of Cross quality is found in the letters from several policemen who attribute their lives to these versatile instruments.