Clairefontaine

Clairefontaine's paper mill was established in 1858 by Jean-Baptiste Bichelberger in Etival-Clairefontaine, in the Vosges department of northeastern France. The site had a much older papermaking lineage: in 1512, a mill was authorized on the nearby Valdange stream, producing handmade paper into the mid-19th century. Bichelberger's operation drew on rags supplied by the region's textile industry and grew quickly into one of the area's most significant factories. The company began manufacturing envelopes in 1880 and expanded into notebooks not long after, building the schoolbook and stationery lines prized among fountain-pen users. More than 165 years later, paper production continues on the same site.