The Waterman Pen Company is a major manufacturing company of luxury
fountain pen
A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an in ...
s and inks, based in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. The firm was established in 1884 in New York City by
Lewis Waterman, being one of the few remaining first-generation fountain pen companies, as "Waterman S.A."
Since 2000 Waterman has been owned by the American group
Newell Brands, through its subsidiary,
Sanford L.P.
Newell Custom Writing Instruments (formerly Sanford Business-to-Business, abbreviated Sanford B2B) is an American manufacturing company of stationery products. It is a division of Newell Brands, producing writing implements, in its plant of Atl ...
History
Lewis Waterman, an
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
salesman
Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale.
The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, invented the first truly functional
fountain pen
A fountain pen is a writing instrument which uses a metal nib to apply a water-based ink to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal reservoir to hold ink, eliminating the need to repeatedly dip the pen in an in ...
in the early 1880s. A typical pen of the day leaked all over a contract he had prepared for a large
policy
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...
, and by the time Waterman returned with a new document, his client had signed with someone else. Later, Waterman was working as a pen salesman in New York for a new company founded in the spring of 1883 by a volatile inventor named Frank Holland. Holland abandoned his company after only six weeks; Waterman stepped in and took over, fitting the pens with a simplified feed of his own design. It was for this "three fissure feed" which his first pen-related patent was granted in 1884.
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. In 1899 the L.E. Waterman Company developed the "spoon Feed" system which prevented overflow of ink, which also led to the company receiving the gold medal of excellence at the "Exposition Universelle" in Paris in 1900.
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.
In 1905 Waterman patented their first permanently attached pen clip, allowing a pen to be held directly in a pocket. In 1908 Waterman released their first retractable-nib "safety" pen.
As the 20th century wore on, Waterman's conservatism allowed its younger and more innovative competitors to gain market share—
Parker,
Sheaffer
Sheaffer Pen Corporation () is an American manufacturing company of writing instruments, particularly luxury fountain pens. The company was founded by Walter A. Sheaffer in Fort Madison, Iowa, and incorporated in 1913 to exploit his invention of ...
, and
Wahl-Eversharp in particular. By the later 1920s, Waterman was attempting to catch up; it continued to struggle through and beyond World War II before finally shutting down in 1954.
Waterman's French subsidiary, Waterman-JIF (Jules-Isidore Fagard) 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
A reverse takeover (RTO), reverse merger, or reverse IPO is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public. Sometimes, conversely, the public compa ...
; Bic would later sell off the Waterman division.
Successfully weathering the challenge of the ballpoint pen, it was acquired by
The Gillette Company
Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G).
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gill ...
in March 1987 which grew overall sales by 40% with its aggressive North American sales
and later sold to
Sanford, a division of Newell Rubbermaid (now known as
Newell Brands), along with the
Parker Pen Division, which Gillette acquired in 1993.
Pens
![WATERMAN CONCORDE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/WATERMAN_CONCORDE.jpg)
Early Waterman pens were made of
hard rubber
Ebonite is a brand name for a material generically known as hard rubber, and is obtained via vulcanizing natural rubber for prolonged periods. Ebonite may contain from 25% to 80% sulfur and linseed oil. Its name comes from its intended use as ...
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. Though largely ignored by present-day collectors, the Waterman C/F of 1953 introduced the modern plastic ink cartridge.
In 1983 and celebrating the company's 100th anniversary, Waterman created the Le Man 100, aiming its products at the luxury writing market. Former French President
François Mitterrand was known for carrying two wherever he went. Other designs that went on to be a landmark in luxury writing were the Lady Elsa and Lady Patricia contemporary writing pens.
As Waterman progressed into the modern era, it produced many of the pens that are still available today including 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.
See also
*
Waterman Hémisphère
The Waterman Hémisphère is a pen introduced in 1994 by the French pen company, Waterman.
The Hémisphère is a light pen that has a cigar shaped barrel with a beveled top and usual Waterman clip. It comes in many colours (metallic, blue, gre ...
*
Waterman Philéas
Waterman Philéas is a series of writing instruments including fountain pens, rollerballs, ballpoints and pencils produced by the Waterman pen company. It is well-known because of its good price-quality ratio and is therefore often recommended f ...
*
Waterman Building (Chicago)
The Waterman Building is a historic building on State Street in Chicago's Loop. Designed by Holabird and Roche, construction began in 1919 was completed in 1920.The American Architect'. Vol. 115, No. 2263. May 7, 1919. p. 10. Retrieved November 1 ...
*
Marcel Bich
References
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Companies
Newell Brands
Fountain pen and ink manufacturers
Ink brands
Luxury brands
Manufacturing companies based in New York City
Manufacturing companies based in Paris
Manufacturing companies established in 1884
1958 mergers and acquisitions
1987 mergers and acquisitions
2000 mergers and acquisitions
French brands