For the medium nib fountain: Super smooth, no skipping, sleek and attractive. This pen is absolutely the best. All Cross pens are, from my experience. Compared to the King pen, which is nice, and the Zenzoi million dollar pen, which is nicer, this pen has a great solid feel and the NICEST, smoothest writing. Some of the other fountain pens are fun to look at and offer flashy cases, for unparalleled ease of writing and unsurpassed quality, Cross beats them all and is worth every dollar for a pen in the "under $100" range. Not having the opportunity to compare with a Waterman or Mont Blanc yet, this has pens in comparable price range beat hands down.