Krone Dissonance

[jandrese]

Here is the Krone Dissonance in mottled and alternating block green. The nib is a medium and is done in 18 k gold. This pen is a replacement as the original had a nib and feed that did not match well. The fit was so bad a quick, sharp, shake would actually have sent the original nib flying. Even though the feed appeared improperly small Krone service declined to send me a new feed, instead asking for the pen back. In return they sent me another pen altogether. Don’t know what happen to the first one. Anyway, this pen has a good fit between nib and feed.

 

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The nib feeds from a captive converter. I’ve posted on captive converters before; I’m not a big fan but this one is fine. The blind cap hides a grooved knob that is much easier to grip and use than the one on my Krone Moderne, which is smooth metal. Ink capacity seems a little larger than most converters but not as much as true piston fillers would provide.

 

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The material this pen is made from is quite strange. It is acrylic resin and appears turned from a solid block. Nevertheless, in some light the pattern looks merely printed on, but dismantling the pen clearly shows that it goes clear through material. The alternating block pattern is bright whereas the mottled parts are somewhat drab. The fusion of these certainly does lead to visual dissonance as suggested by the name of this model. The pattern on the blind cap very nearly lines up with the pattern on the barrel falling about 1 to 2 mm short. Alignment of the cap and body is somewhat worse at about 4 mm off but is not disturbing.

 

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Weight and balance is best with the pen unposted, which is actually a non-issue because the cap does not post securely at all. Since I rarely post this is no big deal, but it is a little strange in a quality pen. The clip is a large piece of silver that may or may not be sterling. I think it is, but it is not marked as such, at least not visibly. It is a nice and functional clip but its weight is somewhat disproportionately large. Altogether it is a very comfortable pen to hold and write with and is also interesting to look at.

 

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The nib, as is typical of Krone, is a soft attractive two-tone job that is well finished. Too bad the pen wrote quite dry. Annoyingly dry as a matter of fact. So, I removed the nib and feed and made some modifications. I altered the feed to increase air return to the captive converter and also widened the distance between the tines of the nib just a little bit right at the tip. Reassembled, the pen now wrote very nicely indeed. I guess the major effect came from working the nib rather than the feed but I can’t say for sure. A wetish writer, the nib now rides on a little bead of ink and there are no dry starts or thin down strokes. Some pressure gives nice feedback without altering ink flow. Even after days of disuse, two cross-country flights, and sitting out in the car during sub-freezing temperatures the pen writes immediately. Pressure can also give some amount of line width variation and differences in line weight with the appropriate ink.

 

I really like Krone pens. They have interesting designs and nice, largely interchangeable nibs. If possible though trying before buying is recommended.

[Edgar Allan Bo]

wow, the striped part reminds me of candy ... some new idea for disposable pens... once you emptied the ink tank you just lick the pen avay!

[Ghost Plane]

I own 8 Krones and found my B nibs to be wet floaters [my preference] straight out of the box. I suspect you'll find the furniture is silver, as I have to polish mine periodically. Don't have any of this model yet.

[PenTieRun]

I have two Krones. My Autograph is a perfect pen; the Virtuoso started well but then became a disaster. As GP states, you will need to polish that silver. I suspect Krone goes cheap on the quality of silver that they buy.

[georges zaslavsky]

I wanted that model but went for something else because the krone m nib was not enough smooth.

Edited January 1, 2010 by georges zaslavsky

[MYU]

I don't usually care for the overly bold look of most Krone pens, but this one is really quite unusual and attractive. I like that green resin pattern. I'm glad to hear you got the nib issues straightened out, Jandrese. Great photos on this review!

 

~MYU