I’ve written about the Dickinson Croxley before. The search box above will discover my musings, for what they’re worth. Dickinsons found some very pretty celluloid patterns and I think this pink and black is one of the best.

Croxley nibs are very good, often flexible to some degree. This one is a soft fine which means that the nib flexes very easily but doesn’t give line variation. Soft nibs make extended periods of writing very comfortable, acting like the suspension of a car.

One peculiarity I have noticed is that the clip screws vary a lot. The threads are often long. Sometimes there is a gap of a centimetre or two between the threads and the top of the screw, other times the threads run all the way to the top. If you require to remove the clip screw for one reason or another, the length of the threading can be a little annoying. Often they are frozen solid with dried ink. There doesn’t seem to be any good reason for the threads to be so long, or for there to be such variety in them.

That’s the worst thing I can say about the Croxley. They are very well made and are among the best of the post-war British pens. Though a more tapered version was produced too, this very traditional-looking pen was very popular and sold in large numbers. It’s practicality over fashion!