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Mont Blanc Kafka LE-review


goodguy

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So yet again I get another MB pen from the Writers Edition family.

I don’t think I will ever get all of the pens in this family but I sure the heck will try to get as close as possible.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture002-1.jpg

This is the sixth WE pen for me and it is so different then any other WE pen.

First this is the only WE pen that doesn’t use a build in piston and instead it uses a filler that looks like a fused converter.

It actually looks and feels better then a regular converter but still doesn’t feel like the real thing. I need to add that even though this is not a big deal this is the only thing that I can say in regards to this pen.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture007-2.jpg

First this pen is longer then I expected it to be and much lighter then I thought.

Because it doesn’t have the standard brass piston the whole pen feels very well balance and comfortable in the hand so I could say that from all the WE pens that I tried this is by far the lightest and well balanced pen.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture003-1.jpg

This pen is one of the most striking pens I own. To me this pen is the closes pen MB produces to the MB 149.

Yes you are probably scratching your head how could this pen be close to the classic 149.

Well the 149 that I love so much has very clean lines, it’s classic and beautiful in its simple and not flashy design.

There are endless pens with amazing designs but somehow pens with classic clean design have something that transcends above that design.

The Kafka has a very clean design. I think this pen has the cleanest design MB produced except the Masterpiece family.

The pen has a very long and slightly slender barrel. There are 3 points that break this pen top, end of cap and bottom.

These 3 points are made of Silver Sterling (including the clip).

The body is dark red. Under a strong light in certain points you can see through the red resin and the effect is nothing short then breathe taking. It has kind of a red glass effect.

This pen has a weird contradiction about it. In one side the pen is very simple in design but once you look deeper to the design you can see how complex the pen really is. It’s got these sweet spots all over.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture004-1.jpg

The top of the cap is round, slowly the barrel turns from round to four sided bottom.

The clip yet again is simple and is basically a part of the silver end of the cap it makes a little loop and then goes down till it touches the cap.

The more I look at this pen the more I am loving this pen. There is something so calm and satisfying about it.

At the end of the cap MB put there little snow flake symbol down and small in and it looks like MB tried to put the focus on the pen itself and not on the symbol.Its like they say the design is so clean and beautiful we want to minimize the MB symbol.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture005-1.jpg

I can continue to talk a lot about how unique and special the design of this pen is but I will stop here because I am running out of words in my limited control of English and because you all are probably asking so is it a good writer too or just a great design.

Well before I am telling you about how well it writes let me tell you the squished bug on the nib was a funny surprise. I don’t know from which story of Kafka it came but this is definitely the shocker. Not exactly what one would think he will find on a FP's nib. But it gives the pen an interesting flare and you have to agree is a great conversation piece :bunny01: .

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture010-4.jpg

Well I filled the pen with J.H Herbin Violette Pensee which is a fancy schmensy name for a dark purple ink. The internal piston filler worked as expected smooth and took more then expected ink. It will be enough for all you need simply because it’s so long and take ink much more then a regular converter.

The 18K nib is Medium and it really didn’t surprise me in regards to how well it writes. All my MB pens are great writers.

This nib like my Cervantes and Virginia Woolf is very rigid and smooth. It leaves a nice wet line and never skips and starts the moment it touches the paper. It has good feedback even though not as good as the Jules Vern.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture006-1.jpg

 

Conclusion

 

Gotta thank yet again the seller Bryant that sold me this pen for such a reasonable price and such a great service-thanks buddy :thumbup: .

The pen is simply amazing, the clean design of this pen is a testimony that there are still pens out there that can drop your jaw without being flashy or loud, it is very well balanced and light weight and has a great nib.

If you are thinking of getting this pen but don’t like MB then do it. This is the most less MB pen I ever own and to be honest it doesn’t need any makers symbol on it as it is amazing and unique. A true modern classic that you will enjoy to use everyday all day without hurting your hand.

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture.jpg

Edited by goodguy

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I think the clip is supposed to represent a leg of an insect, when you look at it from the side... the minimalised MB-Star logo on the top could be an eye of the insect.

 

For the whole "story" behind the theme of this pen look HERE!

 

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect."

 

The metamorphosis of the pen from ROUND to SQUARED end is a very nice idea from MB! :thumbup:

Edited by sk2yshine
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The Kafka is a beautiful pen, and I agree that it's the cleanest design of any of the Writers' editions.

 

Did Zuzik get spooked by the cockroach? :meow:

 

K.

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The Kafka is a beautiful pen, and I agree that it's the cleanest design of any of the Writers' editions.

 

Did Zuzik get spooked by the cockroach? :meow:

 

K.

Nah he is not impressed by any bugs.

He hunts then and eats them,He likes them even more then pens.

 

http://i516.photobucket.com/albums/u330/alfa170a/Picture009-2.jpg

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An amazing pen. I fancy owning one some day. Great pictures as usual goodguy!

 

PRAG

Montblanc 145, F nib
Faber Castell E-Motion in Pearwood, F nib
Montblanc 149, F nib
Visconti Divina Proporzione 1618, S nib
Montblanc Cool Blue Starwalker, EF nib
Montblanc Solitaire Silver Barley BP
Montblanc Rouge et Noir Coral, M nib

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Wow, that is a really amazing looking pen! Right on target with your comments about its apparent simplicity complimented with underlying depth!

 

This is one that could definitely go on my "grail list" if/when I ever work my way up to pens that expensive!

 

Thanks for the great review and pictures!

 

I use a lot of exclamation points when I'm excited!

Edited by Beardy

<i>No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.</i>

 

Pens currently in carrying case: Lamy 2000 F with Noodler's Navy/Bulletproof Black mix, Sheaffer Imperial M with Noodler's Golden Brown, and Lamy Logo F with Noodler's Bulletproof Black.

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Congratulations! It is good to see others enjoying a pen that I enjoy so much as well. You should read Kafka's short story "The Metamorphosis" -- it will make you appreciate the pen all the more. Here is a free e-text!

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An amazing pen. I fancy owning one some day. Great pictures as usual goodguy!

 

PRAG

Thanks PRAG

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Glad to see it got the paw and nose of approval.

Our taste in pens is the same so we both like all my pens (what a surprise ha ? :ltcapd: ).

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  • 1 month later...

Great review as always

- I love this pen. Kafka is my favorite writer and also my favorite writing instrument.

No one I know really 'gets it' - so it's refreshing to read from others who do.

 

-C

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Congrats. I specially like the nib :thumbup:

 

There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures.

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Looks like a square version of the MB AC you have, looking just as good. Performing just as well as it seems too. :)

The red adds a nice touch.

 

Zuzik is interested, it seems?

///

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Looks like a square version of the MB AC you have, looking just as good. Performing just as well as it seems too. :)

The red adds a nice touch.

 

Zuzik is interested, it seems?

Tzutzik (a closer way to say his name) loves my pens,the only thing he loves more is squirels :bunny01:

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Congrats. I specially like the nib :thumbup:

 

Yeah, great pic of the nib - when I tried to photograph it, the detail of the bug did not show.

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Congrats. I specially like the nib :thumbup:

 

Yeah, great pic of the nib - when I tried to photograph it, the detail of the bug did not show.

I gotta admits something about this nib is really "Bugging" me- :ltcapd:

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As time goes on, how are you dealing with the lack of a piston filler on this pen?

 

When I bought mine, this was not really a consideration at all. But now it kind of doesn't seem right. I wonder, is this the only WE with a non-piston filler?

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As time goes on, how are you dealing with the lack of a piston filler on this pen?

 

When I bought mine, this was not really a consideration at all. But now it kind of doesn't seem right. I wonder, is this the only WE with a non-piston filler?

Well I really dont use my WE pens too often (or any of my MB pens for that matter).

For the time I used my Kafka I wasnt too bothered by the lack of true piston on this pen but I do wish there was a piston on it.

As far as I know this is the only WE without a true piston on it.

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