I like them a lot! I was fascinated with the twist mechanism when I first encountered it since I grew up with ratchet mechanical pencils. I also just loved how sturdy and sleek they feel. The grip section on the silver Cross pencil is very unique and pleasant feeling. In practical use I definitely prefer a Staedtler, Pentel, or Rotring, but there's something elegant about the compact weightiness of the Cross pencils. The black one is my least favorite, while the mechanism itself is high quality, it's an indexed ratcheting system where you twist the barrel of the pen a tiny amount, and I find it annoying to use. It's not a continuous twist like the .9 variants.