What's wrong with Waterman?

[inkstainedruth]

When I was a kid, I found my grandfather's old pen/pencil combo on my dad's dresser after my grandfather died (sadly, long since lost -- I have no idea what it was, other than it was blue and had been my grandfather's).  I was entranced with it (but since I was only about 8, I thought the leads for the pencil end went into the lever box to refill.   My mother could NOT understand my fascination with it (chalking it up, I think, to me being "artsy") because she grew up during the Depression, and her family didn't have a lot of money.  So she probably never had a GOOD pen -- more likely she grew up using 3rd tier junkers.  So for her?  Fountain pens were messy and drippy and not worth the effort, although all least she probably did know how to write with one.  

Of course, I also remember her taking a match to the end of the cheap ballpoints she bought, in order to get the ink in THEM running....   BICs were probably too expensive for her to want to pay for....  She tended to type stuff (even personal correspondence) -- originally on an old Royal manual typewriter, and then later on an IBM Selectric.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Lee Dawson]

I am now the proud owner of a Phileas Black Fine nib ((not the Kulture); a Watermans 513 with a stub nib, and now a Expert II medium nib. Love them all. 

[arcfide]

I'll admit that Watermn's whole L'Essence du Bleu line is highly appealing to me, and I like it quite a bit. 

[arcfide]

Out of curiosity, I just checked the Newell annual reports and their quarterly earnings reports. That paints a clearer picture of the structuring of their whole enterprise. In their annual reports they don't even break their products down into writing intruments (they have several writing instrument brands). Instead, they have a "Learning and Development" segment that encompasses all of the major writing brands as a subset of that operation. They're planning a restructuring in 2023 that groups their whole operation into three segments, of which there is a segment CEO over each one. 

 

Under such a scheme, it's no wonder that you don't see as much attention to the Waterman or Parker brands as such. At a high level, they're thinking of these items as Brands, rather than Companies, and they're intentionally trying to deal with the economic conditions by looking for ways of streamlining operations across brands, which naturally has the tendency to dilute any individual brand. 

 

On the other hand, it's also clear that at a lower level, there *is* some motion around the Waterman brand. For example, I think they are trying to build a bit more of a cohesive identity around the French heritage of Waterman. The L'Essence du Bleu series, which I mentioned above as being quite appealing to me, was their way of signaling a shift in their manufacturing. Notice how places like Sheaffer and Cross have shifted to very out-sourced production. On the other hand, Waterman has shifted to taking a more heritage stance of bringing production "100% in France". While that's a small thing, maybe, I find something like that more encouraging for Waterman and Parker than for Sheaffer and Cross, and I think the L'Essence du Bleu release shows a better understanding of their market than the recent product offerings from Sheaffer and Cross. 

 

As a whole, I think Waterman and Parker may be coasting on legacy support, but at the same time, I do think they've managed to retain more brand identity than other legacy brands. And while I don't know that a lot of people are super enamored with the Exception, I do like it personally, and I do think that it stands out among their line-up as a unique and well-executed pen that is distinct and unique among the offerings of other brands, including all of the big 3 countries (Germany, Japan, and Italy). 

[manolo]

I love "L'essence the blue" line, got the Expert and possibly will get the Carene.

I admit Exception is very nicely built, but too heavy and not very comfortable, at least for me. Also, a bit overpriced.

The "100" in France" might be a good strategy, but only if they can keep prices reasonable and maintain quality.