6 replies to this topic

[Hugh]

I bought this a while ago in a mixed lot ( including another 81 but a very different pen), it's spent several years with my daughter and has now returned home.



I don't know much about Wyvern , anyway this is a big pen and if Wyvern follows the English tradition of more cap rings for a higher level model this must be a lower one ( although it's inscribed as "the perfect pen), the clip is chrome plated as well. It carries a nib in keeping with it's size and I must say it's an impressive pen to use, the nib is firm and the pen light and well balanced. Probably a '40's pen (?) and very well made, something a bit different anyway.

Regards
Hugh

[Readymade]

If it helps, there's a thread on Wyverns at that other pen msg board - http://www.fountainp...-top-to-bottom/

[Hugh]

If it helps, there's a thread on Wyverns at that other pen msg board - http://www.fountainp...-top-to-bottom/

Thanks, makes this a very ordinary looking old pen !! Some "flash" Wyverns there.

Regards
Hugh

[Deb]

I note that you say that you had another 81 that was a very different pen, Hugh. That's been my experience of late Wyverns too. They seem to have recycled model numbers/names quite frequently. I had two 81s recently, both quite similar in design but one was a larger, more robust pen than the other and it had a larger nib. Like Mentmore, Wyvern produced many models and the their sequence is by no means clear. I think it remains a rich area for research.

[vintage penman]

Going from my admittedly limited experience of the breed it would seem that there was a large 81 probably of pre war origin) - sharing dimensions with the 84 button filler series - and a thinner 81, quite close in size to the #7 and with a distinct similarity to the Prefect and other post war models. I suspect that the later models were somewhat cheaper in construction too. They didn't impart that bomb proof feel of the earlier Wyverns.

Err...ummm after studying the photo again that cap top button appears to be of post war style - does this mean that there were two identically numbered series of pens sold concurrently ?

Edited by vintage penman, 21 February 2013 - 10:06 PM.

[Hugh]

Here are my (only) two Wyverns, both 81s



The bottom one came missing a cap band and a replacement nib ( how a near mint pen can have both mystifies me..)....remarkably an Onoto 33 (irc) that was one of the nicest flex nibs I've come across and I'm not a flex person as such. I found the section on the bottom one to be too slim for comfort .

Regards
Hugh

[Wardok]

I think I have at least 4 different 81 models, one a torpedo shape and one much less streamlined. Wyvern cap bands are often loose or missing (or brassed if still in place) but otherwise they can be very nice pens, The less streamlined 81 has a real presence. I will try to get a picture when I get back home



Simon