What Company Made This Pen?

[Timeline]

Any information about this pen would be greatly appreciated

[northlodge]

Wyvern or Lang are favorite.

 

A good pic of the level & the nib might help.

[Timeline]

[mallymal1]

Fascinating. Thanks for the post.

 

The basic chasing design looks very similar to the pen in post #10 of this thread, a glass nibbed "The Rex" pen.

 

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/282478-glass-nib-lever-filler/

 

 

I have a few "The Rex" pens with crysto-glass nibs, and they have the same 'propeller' design on the levers, as yours does (the bottom pen in the picture below is one such). I also have a "Sovereign 20/-" pen with the same.

 

 

This from Steve Hull's English Fountain Pen History, page 67...Wyvern 1931 ..."and Rex with crysto-glass nib avaiable."

 

There is no mention of the Sovereign, which I thought to be Langs.

 

So, could be a Rex? Possibly made by Langs, or maybe Wyvern?

 

 

 

 

[Timeline]

Thanks for the information MalcolmH, I will research Rex pens a little more. My pen has a Warranted nib so, I am guessing at some point it was a replacement.

[mallymal1]

Hi Timeline.

 

The Sovereign pen I have with the prop lever, has a Warranted nib. Also, I have another pen marked Sovereign, and that too has a warranted nib.

 

So, the nib could be original...or not.

[northlodge]

Wyvern used Warranted nibs made by Curzon / Lang during this period, so it probably is original (or at least correct).

 

Lang more commonly used a 4 leaf clover design around this period, and whilst I cannot be certain the prop' is Wyvern, I would tend towards this being the manufacturer.

 

The body of the pen you are showing is very similar to the "Two-Fold" that was definitely made by Wyvern, and which had a pencil build into the elongated cap - I think that the clip is also the same as that used on the Two-fold (but I do not have one to hand to compare with)

[Timeline]

Thanks for all the help so far, anyone care to guess what a fair price for these are. I got this one for $46, only issue I have with it is that it is a very wet writer and burps once in awhile, maybe a feed issue?.

[peterg]

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest a John Bull/ Conway Stewart. After the Great War John Bull set up a factory which ajoined Conway Stewart's Goswell Road factory. It was also managed by a Conway director. An early example of outsourcing.

 

What happened and when is an open question but John Bull were taken over by Odhams Press (who printed the magazine) and at some point disposed of the factory, as later John Bull pens are recognisably made by other manufacturers.

 

The general design of the pen is very similar to Conway pens made for third parties. Only the clip is different and the generic nib was used on John Bull pens. But it was also used on Unique pens (probably made by the Union Pen Company), Mentmore and Altura (and presumably many other minor brands).

[northlodge]

if you were in the UK I would have said you paid at the top of the valuation band, but of course such a pen is harder to find in the US, so the value might be somewhat different. Remember the £ is in the dumps now, yet English ebay prices have not really increased to reflect this.

 

Burping may just be about the filling system not being serviced correctly. I would suggest dismantling, and inspecting what are really quite basic pen parts.

[Azuniga]

Fascinating. Thanks for the post.

 

The basic chasing design looks very similar to the pen in post #10 of this thread, a glass nibbed "The Rex" pen.

 

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/282478-glass-nib-lever-filler/

 

 

I have a few "The Rex" pens with crysto-glass nibs, and they have the same 'propeller' design on the levers, as yours does (the bottom pen in the picture below is one such). I also have a "Sovereign 20/-" pen with the same.

 

 

This from Steve Hull's English Fountain Pen History, page 67...Wyvern 1931 ..."and Rex with crysto-glass nib avaiable."

 

There is no mention of the Sovereign, which I thought to be Langs.

 

So, could be a Rex? Possibly made by Langs, or maybe Wyvern?

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to intrude like this into another subject but I could not resist to say; MalcolmH your pens black & Bronze are gorgeous !!!

[enchiridion]

20190725_134858.jpg 20190725_134918.jpg 20190725_134928.jpg 20190725_134941.jpg

 

the triskel should be a help in identifying