Scrikss: The fountain pen brand's journey from Spain to Turkey

The first practical fountain pen was invented in 1884 by Lewis Waterman who solved the problem of ink leaks by inventing the capillary feed which produced even ink flow. 

The Scrikss brand name comes from the Spanish word Escribir, which means writing. Founded in 1939 in Albacete, Spain, pen manufacturer Scrikss was sold to Switzerland-based company Möwe in the late 1950s. In 1963, Möwe transferred the rights of Scrikss to Hayati Vitali Rodrik, an Istanbul merchant. Founded on December 8, 1963, Scrikss Metal and Plastik's founders included Hayati Vitali Rodrik, as well as Albert Mitrani, Yahya Yako, Tegolgos Brothers, Yusuf Işık and Sevi Ender, who were traders in Istanbul. The partners of the company, which was established with a capital of 1 million TL ($ 110 thousand at the exchange rate at that time), were among the most important importers and distributors of the Turkish stationery industry.

The company, which first started to produce ballpoint pens and then fountain pens under the Scrikss brand name in its own factory building in Istanbul in 1964, achieved important successes in the writing instruments and instruments market in a short time. The import substitution policy implemented during this period greatly contributed to Scrikss' increasing market power. As a matter of fact, in accordance with this policy, if a product was produced in Turkey, it was not allowed to be imported from abroad, and the use of domestic products was encouraged.

While Scrikss' market power was increasing, its corporate structure was also getting stronger. During this period, Hayati Vitali Rodrik became the CEO of the company, Albert Mitrani became the marketing manager and Yahya Yako became the factory manager. 17 models of Scrikss produced in Turkey in 1966 were met with interest.

1974 was an important turning point in the brand history of Scrikss. The company, which decided to merge with the world-famous pen company Waterman, gave up the Scrikss brand name in this period and started the production of Waterman pens and cartridges. Francine Gomez, the world-famous boss of Waterman, known as Madame Waterman, gave the production license of Jif-Waterman fountain pens in Turkey to Scrikss. In this process that will continue for 10 years, Scrikss gained experience in many areas from the production of Waterman products to sales and marketing techniques.

During this period, when they continued the production and sales of Waterman pens and cartridges in Turkey, they opened a new office in Sirkeci and accelerated their R&D studies to develop new products. Fineliner 22 pens, made of stainless steel, were introduced to users in 1982. Thanks to these developments, the company became one of Turkey's 500 largest industrial enterprises in the 1980s.