Waterman pens

Waterman S.A.
Private (subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid)
Industry Luxury goods
Founded New York, U.S., 1884
Founder Lewis Waterman
Headquarters Paris, France
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Fountain pens
Parent Newell Rubbermaid
Website www.waterman.com
Waterman factory in Manhattan, c. 1906

The Waterman pen company is a major manufacturer of luxury fountain pens. Established in 1884 in New York City by Lewis Edson Waterman,[1] it is one of the few remaining first-generation fountain pen companies, as Waterman S.A..

It is currently owned since 2000 by the American group Newell Rubbermaid.

History

The initial years of Waterman's involvement in pen manufacturing are unclear. The earliest records of reservoir pens date back to the tenth century, with the oldest surviving examples dating back to the 18th. Waterman's improvements on basic pen design and aggressive marketing played a vital role in making the fountain pen a mass-market object.

The key novelty feature of Waterman's first fountain pens was the feed, for which his first pen-related patent was granted in 1884.[2] From the beginning, competition in the fountain pen industry was fierce, both in the marketplace and the courtroom. Despite later company literature that depicts Lewis E. Waterman as a golden-hearted innocent, all evidence indicates that he was a tough, savvy, and innovative businessman.

Waterman pens made for Air France's Concorde

Nonetheless, it was after L. E. Waterman's death in 1901 that the company took off. Under the leadership of Waterman's nephew, Frank D. Waterman, the Waterman Pen Company expanded aggressively worldwide. While Waterman introduced its share of innovations, the company's main selling point was always quality and reliability.

As the 20th century wore on Waterman's conservatism allowed its younger and more innovative competitors to gain market share—Parker, Sheaffer, and Wahl-Eversharp, in particular. By the later 1920s, Waterman was playing catch-up; it continued to struggle through and beyond World War II before finally shutting down in 1954.

Waterman's French subsidiary, Waterman Jif (later Waterman S.A.), continued to prosper and eventually absorbed what remained of the American company and its British arm.

The Waterman company was acquired by the Bic company which went public in 1958 with a reverse merger; Bic would later sell off the Waterman division.[3]

Successfully weathering the challenge of the ballpoint pen, it was acquired by The Gillette Company in March 1987 which grew overall sales by 40% with its aggressive North American sales [4] and later sold to Sanford, a division of Newell Rubbermaid, along with the Parker Pen Division, which Gillette acquired in 1993.

In 2011, the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England was closed, and its production transferred to Saint-Herblain, France.

Pens

Early Waterman pens were made of hard rubber and were equipped with 14K gold nibs. From early on, precious metal trim and overlays were offered. Many are still in use today, and their nibs are prized for their smoothness and flexibility.

Waterman's high production volume from c. 1900 on means that vintage examples are comparatively easy to find today. The most common models from the hard rubber era are the #12 slip-cap eyedropper, the #52 screw-cap lever-filler, and the #42 retracting-nib safety pen. Waterman adopted celluloid comparatively late, with the advent of the Patrician and Lady Patricia in 1929. Though largely ignored by present-day collectors, the Waterman C/F of 1953 introduced the modern plastic ink cartridge.

A few pens of Waterman S.A. are: the Edson, the Exception, the Philéas, the Hémisphère, the Expert, the Harmonie, the Charleston, the Ici et Là, the Audace, the Sérénité, the Liaison and the Carène. The Man 100 was released in 1983 for the 100th anniversary of the company; François Mitterrand was known for carrying two wherever he went.

See also

Marcel Bich

References

  1. ↑ "pen", Encyclopaedia Britannica 15th Edition (1998)
  2. ↑ U.S. Patent 293,545 Fountain Pen, February 12, 1884
  3. ↑ Friday, Mar. 17, 1967 (1967-03-17). "Corporations: Mightier than the Pencil". TIME. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
  4. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/16/business/waterman-rift-a-tearful-farewell.html

External links

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