verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . may 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message waterman s.a. type subsidiary industry good s founded new york u.s. 1884 founder lewis waterman headquarters paris france area served worldwide products fountain pens owner newell brands parent sanford l.p. 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. . since 2000 it has been owned by the american group newell brands subsidiary sanford l.p. contents 1 history 2 pens 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit 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 . in 1883 lewis edson waterman invented the three fissure feed system which prevented excessive discharge of ink after previously losing a big sale due to a leaking fountain pen which led to the key novelty feature of waterman s first fountain pens being 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 . 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 . 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 . in 1904 the pen clip was invented to allow a pen to be held in the pocket or clipped onto an object . the same year also saw the development of the first complete inkflow proof retractable pen . 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 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 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 edit 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 . 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 fran ois 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 phil as the h misph re the expert the harmonie the charleston the ici et l the audace the s r nit the liaison and the car ne . in 2009 the latest development in the waterman luxury pen range appeared with the introduction of the waterman elegance crossing the divide between writing and stylish jewelry . see also edit marcel bich references edit pen encyclopaedia britannica 15th edition 1998 u.s. patent 293 545 fountain pen february 12 1884 friday mar. 17 1967 1967 03 17 . corporations mightier than the pencil . time . retrieved 2011 08 17 . cs1 maint multiple names authors list link http www.nytimes.com 1988 12 16 business waterman rift a tearful farewell.html external links edit tour visit with factory v t e fountain pen manufacturers by country australia curtis australia brazil crown canada andr juillet china baoer beifa hero jinhao croatia toz penkala czech republic koh i noor hardtmuth france bic cartier guy laroche herm s j. herbin jean pierre l pine maped pierre cardin r cife st dupont yves saint laurent germany diplomat faber castell garant graf von faber castell kaweco lamy montblanc online pelikan rotring schneider schwan stabilo senator staedtler india camlin chelpark luxor italy aurora columbus delta marlen montegrappa omas stipula visconti japan nakaya namiki ohto pentel pilot platinum sailor tombow uni ball zebra poland zenith portugal mab viarco russia krasin stamm spain inoxcrom sweden ballograf switzerland caran d ache turkey adel scrikss united kingdom ajoto conway stewart dunhill onoto twiss pens worcester pen company yard o led united states bexley broadwell sudios cross esterbrook eversharp krone paper mate parker sheaffer waterman wearever companies portal retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title waterman pens & oldid 741530615 categories newell rubbermaid brandsfountain pen and ink manufacturerscompanies established in 1883american brandsfrench brandshidden categories cs1 maint multiple names authors listarticles needing additional references from may 2013all articles needing additional references navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages e tinadeutschespa olfran ais italianonederlands polski edit links this page was last modified on 28 september 2016 at 02 42 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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