I spent the day, with my partner, visiting harrods in London. We spent most of it in the pen department looking at some fantastic pieces. The salesman saw our enthusiasm and led us over to the krone collection. The hand painted artwork was simply stunning and as much as i appreciate the craftmanship and hours that had gone into creating one of these masterpieces, i was still pretty dumbfounded when i saw the £3500 price tag. I am curious as to what type of person collects pens in this price range!

Although i admit some of Krone's pens are beautiful,i could never afford them.Unless i sold my whole collection.
And thats not going to happen.
Many pens out there command such high prices.It would be fun to see statistics as to how many of those $10,000 + pens sell.

Jim

JohnD wrote:

"I am curious as to what type of person collects pens in this price range!"

Yup! Me, too. I just know for sure that it ain't me.

By the way, welcome to FPN.

If you get your hands on one of the lesser Krones, you'll be glad you did. Excellent fit and finish, wet nibs. But I'm talking about UNDER $200.

Which Krone's are under $200??/ I have not seen them that low.
But then again i have not searched in depth.

Jim

Krone pens ain't my bag, but I'm sure there are quite a number of people out there have no problem dropping 3 G's on a fountain pen. I'm just glad I'm not one of them.

FPH has a couple on special http://www.fountainpenhospital.com/Index_S...se/showcase.asp

EDIT link to the page didn't come out, hit the Super Special tab at the top of the page then go to page two of the specials. They ahve 2 or 3.

Harrods only seems to keep the most expensive pens. The Harrods pen department is actually very disappointing, in my opinion.

I strongly recommend the Krone Sterling Silver - I bought one from Pam Braun for $480 and it's a beautiful pen - every bit as good as a MB Solitaire, with a great smooth nib.

I've found fantastic Krones not only at FPH, but a luscious Moderne that's staying high on my list of favorites and leapt into my hand from one of the Perlson auctions on eBay. Just search on "Judds" and you'll find this week they have some high end Aegeans, etc.

And, as always, the Pen Goddess [Pam Braun] can fulfill your lust for goodies.

I am the proud owner of a Krone Blue Gold which definitley set me back a few dollars. In hindsight I over paid, but hopefullu, it will eventually be wort something around what I paid for it. As for it's quality, I can say it is flawless. The fit and finish are really wonderful. The materials are what make it so expensive - special blue gold over sterling silver. BUT, that creates the biggest problem with the pen. It is so heavy that it cannot be considred a daily use pen. I defend the purchase and like big pens, but this is really heavy and not practical because of its weight.

I forget where Krone gets their nibs, but I had Richard B take this down to a Fine and it writes amazingly well. As wonderful a writing experience as any pen in my collection of expensive "bling" pens. Here's the list of what I own that I call expensive:

1. David Oscarson Celestial
2. Mont Blanc Marquis de Pompadour
3. MB Proust
4. MB Dostoevsky
5. MB Jules Verne
6. MB Czar Nikolai
7. Cartier Platinum
8. Pelikan Toledo M900
9. Pelikan M1000
10. Conway Stewart Silver Duro (also very heavy)
11. Pelikan 100N (1948)
12. MB William Faulkner

Medium priced are as follows:
1. Delta Dolcevita
2. Delta Isreal 50 th anniversary
3. Conway Stewart Casein
4. Waterman Patrician - 3 of them
5. Namiki Nippon Art (2 of them)
6. Waterman Edson
7. Nakaya Urushi

And, of course the krone Blue Gold.

Andy W.

Yep I have a Metaphor that's a wonderful little pen. The other Krone's seem to be made for collectors of the finer things.


Kurt

The only Krone LE pen I really like and have is this "Shogun" which, not surprising is a maki-e on MOP.


Close up of the Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa in full armor


The pen is full of symbols which if you are into history will pick up. Here is the family crest of house of "Oda"
Oda, Nobunaga, was a fierce warlord and ruthless, was eventually betrayed by his general and committed suicide.


And the Crest of House of Toyotomi:
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of Oda's trusted and most able general whom risen from rank of foot soilder. After the death of Oda, was able to unite the country under him. He brought peace and prosperity, but in his old age he made the mistake of attacking Korea. He is also known as "Japan's Napoleon"


The family crest of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the eventual winner whom succeeded Toyotomi after his death. James Clavell's novel "Shogun" is based on this charater. He is known as the "old fox"... he is patient, and out cunning and out lived his rivals.


Mystical animal on top of the cap


Pen uncapped:


Kevin

WineDoc, that's a very pretty pen. I usually don't like their high-end pens but enjoy some of the low-end and nver payed more than perhaps 150 USD.

Andy, I hate you - in a friendly way! I've been lusting after a Blue Gold since I first saw one, and only wish I could afford one. I also lust after a Michael Perchin, but I know I'll never be able to afford one of these unless I sell all my other pens. Having said that, I'm very happy with my Krone Sterling - at 60g and 14.5 cms long when capped, it's big and heavy enough for me. The Blue Gold is 80g, so I understand your feelings about excess weight, though it's still a stunning pen. I'm not a scientist, but I believe blue gold is made by alloying gold with iron - is there any indication of the actual gold content on the Blue Gold? Another thing: the Blue Gold looks very similar to the MB Jules Verne - is this true or do my eyes deceive me?

Please feel free to post any pictures!

Please do. I love to write with my 60g Yard O Led, so I'd love to try writing with a Blue Gold.

I have the YoL Viceroy Grand - great pen! Mine has the victorian pattern.

Hiya David:

So, without knowing me you hate me... No problem, I can take it ... in a friendly way

As for the Blue Gold, I bought this over 2 years ago, so I am going from memory. But, I recall that it is 18K gold. Your comment is the first I have heard of the iron alloy. They make a big deal that it is a proprietary alloy based on the gold, but don't say how it is done. In fact, some of their literature talks about converting yellow gold to blue? Since I'm not an "alchemist' I didn't really investigate too hard. My AD is one of the leading ones in the country and he didn't really know too much about the process.

As for a comparison to the jules verne. Yup, they definitely overlap. The Krone is more of a traditional guilloche and the blue is a much different color. The Jules Verne has more depth to it and I think is a bit more interesting to look at. Another interesting thing to note, the JV is also a heavy pen, but when used without posting it is significantly lighter and easy to use. The Krone barrell is heavier (My scale is out of batteries, so I can't weigh them for you) and even unposted still needs to go on a diet. The other thing I don't get at the price I paid for it; the Krone uses a cheap converter, while the JV has the nice MB piston fill. Personally, I think the best solution is the David Oscarson which offers 3 methods of filling - converter, cartridge and eye dropper (all three are possible in the same chamber!!!!)

I choose the DO over MP for 2 reasons. The Celestrial is one of the prettiest pens I have ever seen. The depth of color he gets with the hard enamel process is really something to be seen in person. Also, I have met David on 3 occassions now and I find him to be a true gentlemen. He cares about his customers and based on my correspondence with him, I feel happy to contribute to his company and efforts.

I'll post some pictures of the Krone next to the JV to give you a view of them. Just give me a few days to get to it.

Oh, and it's okay to hate me, just respect me .....

Andy

I don't have much to add to the discussion other than this:

Andy, even though I don't know you, I like your bike. Which means I like you. In a friendly way, of course. Get it? One of these days, I'll post a photo of my Seven.

[Perfectly Reputable Pen Firm] + [Jimi Hendrix] + [20 hits of LSD] =

I would be curious if the pen has bare metal on the inside of the pen or there is some coating to keep the ink from contacting the metal?


Kurt

Beautiful! But look at that grip section. It wasn't designed with writing in mind

Hey, it was tongue in cheek! I 'hated' you because I envied your Blue Gold - of course!

I don't see the piston filler as being necessarily better than the cc filler. The latter is more flexible, as it allows the user to insert ink cartridges if so desired. I have actually seen and held the Blue Gold and it is a very impressive piece. I actually love the weight - to me, weight is a sign of quality. I also feel that in the case of the Blue Gold much of the weight lies in the cap. Given the prices that several unimpressive MB limited editions go for, the Krone is not a bad deal - unless of course you only buy pens as an investment.

Yes, the pen looks better capped.

Kev

Hello my FPN friends,

I just picked up a Krone Everclear. It's a clear demonstrator with a two-tone 18kt M nib. Joon has a Pen Expo. I went after work to just see. They have some good brands-Delta's, Namiki's(wow),Visconti,Sheaffer's and Krone's at 50% off. I paid way under $200. I will post pics this weekend. I really want to get forum feedback. Thank you in advance.

so lucky. what a baby, man. i can see it is rather expensive. are you afraid of loosing it.

I am so envious of people who live places where there are pen stores to HAVE sales.

I am always afraid of loosing any of my pens no matter what the price is. couple of pens were missing from my office, some cheapos I have them out for my staff to use. I am sure some may just walk away with them or "forgot" to return them. These are ones I am willing to part with though.

Kevin

Move to NY, LA or Chicago and you'll have plenty of stores on your doorstep!

Let me think about that. Um...NO!

But it woud be nice.

But then you'd also have NY, LA or Chicago on your doorstep as well


Kurt

Exactly!

Yep I've got all of the internet stores right at my fingertips why do I need to live in a big city

Wow! that comes out to $7,191.29 in the devalued currency I use!

I can tell you right now, I'm not one of the folks buying those fountain pens. The highest price I've ever paid for a fountain pen was $22.95. I could buy 313 of the most expensive pens I own for the price of that one Krone pen.

Pardon me, I need to go back to The Marketplace and resume trolling for $5 pens in order to get the sticker shock out of me .

PS - But I'm glad you had a good time there. Always fun to look.

They do have some pens I like with this one in particular. Still outside my budget though. Picture from FPH.

Prices were lower until we got near the holidays. Betting they'll go on sale again in January.

Yeah, and that's the big drawback!

Yeah, it looks like it'd be downright painful after a short while. I betcha that a Parker Vector or an old Sheaffer cartridge pen or a Kaweco Sport would out-write it any day, not to mention that a Pelikano Jr. will not only write better but is designed better for being held by a human hand!

But I'm sure that for some it's still a thing of beauty.

Dunno. Some of us hold our pens way back on the barrel.

I usually am far north of the threads with most pens myself but I'd hate to be gripping on the art all the time.



Kurt

Finally got a picture comparing the two pens. Let me know if this helps.

James:

Interesting thing about the bike. It's one of the best climbing bikes I have ever raced on. I am sure that it has to do with the weight. But, this is the second generation Ghisallo and they made the bottom bracket much stiffer. Also, I got a pretty long top tube for me and that helps as it puts me a little better power position.

HOWEVER, it is the worst desending bike I have ever used (and I have raced or ridden a lot of them). It was so bad, that 2 years ago when racing in France for a month, I had to switch bikes at the top of any of the major cols. On a practice run going down Col de la Croix Fur and then Glandon, I pedaled as hard as I could but couldn't keep up with my team mates. I switched to my Steel Waterford on the descents and was among the leaders. I'm not really sure why this is, but I am sure it has nothing to do with the weight. I just assume it is the angle engineering, but not sure what part about it is the problem. I ended up using it in the Alps and changing bikes for the descents, but when we switched to the Pyrenees for 2 races, I had tried a Colnago Composite and was more impressed.

I must say though that I no longer race like this and I live in the Eastern US, so it's not like I face Alp like climbs everyday. But, I still cannot descend with my team mates when we go to the Appalachian mountains....

Andy W.

Both pens are stunning. I prefer the Krone because of its precious content and the darker blue colour.

LA?

Anybody here own a Krone sterling silver pen? I've seen photos of them on Fountain Pen Hospital's website, but I can't figure out if this is a large silver pen, like the Yard O Led Grand, or a smallish one, like the Parker Esparto or the new Waterman Silver Exception.

Here are some pics of my Everclear.

Here are some pics of my Everclear.

Hi. I have the Krone Sterling. It's a large and very impressive pen - 146mm long when closed and 60g in weight. Much closer to the Waterman Exception than the Esparto. The silver is quite thick on the Krone - it's pure silver, not a thin layer on top of a plastic sheet.

Pam Braun offers good deals on Krone pens.

Thanks! Now I have another for my wish list. It's hard to go wrong with Pam the Pen Goddess.

Krone Architectus? Simply amazing. Nice, wet line; heavy, yet still usable. It's gorgeous, too. FPH had a major sale on them a few months ago, $600 pen for $189... I promptly asked for that to be my graduation present, and I love it.