Watermark Design Faucets Review & Rating Updated: 04/24/23
Law Requirements
Warranty Footnotes
1. "Watermark Designs products carry a lifetime limited warranty to the original consumer purchaser to be free from defects in material and workmanship for as long as they own their home.
Read the Watermark Dsigns faucet warranty.
Learn more about faucet warranties.
This Company In Brief
Watermark Designs is a Brooklyn, New York designer and producer of faucets. Its unique designs, some of which are award-winning, have captured wide attention, propelling thecompany's growth since its founding in 2000.
The company has experienced some growing pains but seems to have steadied itself over the past few years.
Its faucets are true luxury products, largely hand-assembled and impeccably finished – worth a look by anyone in the market for a smart, well-designed faucet with a very reliable valve that should give a lifetime of trouble-free service.
If the faucet should fail, however, keep in mind that the warranty itself is deficient, the process required by Watermark to claim under the warranty is convoluted and decidedly not customer-friendly, and the company gets low marks for handling warranty issues.
Brooklyn. One of the five boroughs of New York and the nation's fourth-largest city – home to a world-famous bridge, the Botanical Gardens, the Navy Yard, Coney Island; and some well-known neighborhoods: Canarsie, Brighton Beach, Bensonhurst, and Williamsburg.
It's not a place one normally thinks of as a design mecca. But, Brooklyn has become stylish, – to the absolute astonishment of those of us who lived there in the 1970s and 80s. The style even has a name: "Brooklyn Chic".
Some well-known international designers call the borough home:
- Acconci Studio (Vito Acconci – architectural design),
- Egg Collective (Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis, and Hillary Petrie – heirloom-quality furniture),
- Roll & Hill (Jason Miller – lamps and lighting),
- Tri-Lox (creative furnishings and other products from reclaimed wood)
- Workstead Studio (Stefanie Brechbuehler & Robert Highsmith – interior design),
to name just a few.
The Company
Watermark Designs, Ltd. should be included in this group as the purveyor of some of the more interesting faucets to be found in North America.
Eurotec became Watermark Designs, Ltd., the design end of the business. Sepco handles the production side.
Watermark faucets range from traditional to very contemporary designs arranged in coordinated collections. Most collections are fully loaded with faucets, shower sets, tub fillers, and accessories. Some even include lighting fixtures, shower drains, cabinet knobs, and console frames for a completely harmonized look.
The faucet styles straddle any historical period from Victorian to contemporary. No matter the era of your old (or new) house or your decor preference, there is likely to be a Watermark faucet that will fit your personal style.
If none of the company's standard offerings fill the bill, however, Watermark's ID division will design a custom faucet just for you.
Of course, you would probably have to order several hundred for your mega-mansion, luxury hotel, or Vegas casino to offset the cost of custom design and engineering.
The Acquisition
Watermark Designs was acquired by Dimora Brands in 2019. Faucets and showers are a new venture for Dinora that has in the past limited its acquisitions to companies in the decorative cabinet hardware business including premium brands such as Top Knobs. Vesta, and Du Verre.
The next year, Dimora was itself acquired by Clearlake Capital Group. Here is how Clearlake describes itself:
"Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a private investment firm operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with experienced management teams by providing patient, long term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm's core target sectors are technology, industrials, and consumer."
Since its initial sale in 2019, we have not seen any major changes in Watermark, but we expect they will come.
Investment groups like Clearlake Capital insist on good profitability A company that does not reach and sustain a substantial profit margin will sooner or later get new management and very often a re-focus from quality to profitability.
For an example, see our review of a company that has gone through the process resulting in a substantial depreciation of the product.
The Manufacturers
Watermark Designs formerly described itself on its website as "...a true manufacturer of made-in-the-USA products". It no longer does so.
A made-in-U.S.A. claim is closely regulated and monitored by the Federal Trade Commission which requires that any product labeled "Made in U.S.A." be comprised of all or virtually all parts and components also made in the U.S.A.
It now describes its products as "Made-In-Brooklyn," an unregulated claim outside the reach of U.S. law.
In 2006 when Watermark was much smaller, its current CEO, Avi Abel, could talk in a promotional video about casually walking down the street in Brooklyn to buy the supplies it needed from local vendors. If they ever actually existed, those days are definitely gone.
Today the vast majority of its faucet components and many whole faucets are imported – manufactured to Watermark's specifications by overseas factories.
Watermark's known parts and components sources during our look-back period of 60 months include:
- P-Sun International Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) is a dedicated that specialized in producing parts and assemblies as a subcontractor to other manufacturers. It provides Watermarks with various faucet components and supplies faucet or faucet components to
- Camel Products, Inc. (Taiwan) manufactures faucets and showers and their componets. In addition to the Watermark, it manufactures for
- Eurden Industries, Inc. (Taiwan) Manufactures brass parts and components as an to other manufacturers. It supplies Watermark with a few of its faucet and shower components. Its principal buyer in North America, however, appears to be the luxury faucet company,
- Eurotaps Industries Ltd. (Taiwan) Manufactures brass parts and components as an supplier to other manufacturers.
- (Shenzhen) Seagull Kitchen and Bath, Ltd. (China) is a large manufacturer that supplies components and whole faucets to a number of faucet companies besides Watermark, including
- (Xiamen) Sembowell Industries Co., Ltd. (China) furnishes brass components.
- (Guangzhou) Weihong Economic Development Co., Ltd. (China) is a hardware manufacturer. It provides Watermark with bath accessories such as towel racks and robe hooks, but also supplies some faucet components.
In addition to parts and components used to assemble faucets in its plant in Brooklyn, Watermark also contracts for a growing number of fully assembled faucets from a increasing number of overseas suppliers, including:
- Bronces Orus, S.L. (Spain) makes door and cabinet hardware as well as faucets and bath accessories. It supplies several faucets to Watermark.
- Elite Plumbing Fixture Co. Ltd. (Taiwan) is an contract manufacturer. It supplies faucets and faucet components to Watermark.
- Carlo Nobili S.p.A. (Italy) is part of Nobili Group which also includes Rubinetterie Stella, a faucet company established in 1832, and C.G.S. Srl , an Italian manufacturer of good quality, well-designed drains and overflows. Nobili makes at least one Watermark faucet in the Loft 2.0 collection and probably more. It also supplies with both faucets and faucet components.
- Delux Brassware Co. Ltd. (Taiwan) manufactures It furnishes both completed faucets and faucet components to Watermark.
- Elite Plumbing Fixture Company., Ltd. (Taiwan) manufactures custom faucets for Watermark.
- Goldiden Industrial Co. Ltd. (China) makes faucets for Watermark and also manufactures some of the faucets sold by
- Huber Cisal Industrie SPA (Italy) of San Maurizio d'Opaglio near Milan sells its well-designed contemporary faucets throughout Europe. It provides faucet components and whole faucets to Watermark.
- Stream Tapware Corp. (Taiwan) supplies faucet parts and components, and faucets to Watermark. It also manufactures for
Faucet Assembly
Watermark has never had the facility required to do its own casting or forging – essential processes in making most faucet – and the usual hallmark of actual faucet manufacturers such as
It does some machining in-house and has recently purchased a CNC machine to automate much of the process.
It assembled faucets from components made by other companies. How much assembly it does depends on the particular faucet.
Some are almost entirely assembled and finished in-house, others are received from component manufacturers almost complete, perhaps requiring installation of handles, cartridge, and other minor components – so-called "screwdriver" assembly.
Attaching a few components to an already finished faucet does not rise to the level of the true "transformative" assembly required for the faucet to be considered "Assmbled in U.S.A."
We are satisfied, however, that most of the company's faucets are finished and assembled to order, creating a whole faucet from what was before assembly just a collection of components and parts.
Most of its faucet are finished in house. In fact, Watermark's forté, other than its striking original designs, is metal finishing. It started as a metal plating company, and its three generations of plating experience are evident in its faucets, showers, and accessories.
According to the company, no matter how or where the components for a faucet are made, or where the faucets are assembled, every faucet undergoes a very rigorous quality control process including a pressure test at three times normal household water pressure to ensure that the faucet does not leak before it is packaged for shipping.
Buying Rule for
Smart Faucet Buyers
Valve Cartridge
Never buy a faucet unless you know the type of cartridge used in the faucet and who made it.
Its cartridge is the most critical part of a faucet. It is the component that actually controls water flow. Without a working cartridge, a faucet is no longer a faucet.
Companies that use good-quality cartridges in their faucets usually disclose the cartridge source on their websites. Those that don't will happily identify the cartridge in a call to customer service.
If the company refuses to reveal the sources of its cartridges (because it is a "trade secret"), you can confidently assume it is not one of the better brands.
For more information about faucet valves and cartridges and the companies that make cartridges known to be reliable, see Faucet Valves & Cartridges.
Faucet Components
The critical components used in Watetmark faucets are some of the world's best.
Valve Cartridges
A spokesperson for the company told us that every two-handle Watermark faucet is developed around one of five ceramic cartridges made by Flühs Direhtechnik of Lüdenscheid, Germany. The Flühs valve is generally considered among the best in the world.
Watermark's single-handle faucets are equipped with ceramic mixing cartridges made by Kerox Kft. of Hungary. The Kerox is regarded by most in the industry as one of the best mixing cartridges on the market.
The company's website identifies Flühs cartridges by name but does not mention the Kerox cartridges used in many of its faucets, although we found references to the Kerox K25A, K35B, and K35A cartridges in many parts diagrams.
Some faucets include a valve that appears to have been designed specifically for Watetmark.
Many faucets in the 22 series contain a cartridge of this type. We asked who made it but the person we spoke to claimed not to know. However, it is neither a Flühs nor a Kerox.
In the older design of 22 series faucets, the valve was built into the body of the faucet, so that if it failed the faucet had to be returned to the company for repairs. In the new design, the valve is built into a removable cartridge that can be replaced without uninstalling the faucet.
Aerators
Most Watermark faucets also include engineered by Neoperl of Switzerland and Amfag, an Italian firm.
Faucet aerators used to be simple devices that merely infused a little air to soften the water stream so it would not splash out of the sink. Today, however, they are precision products used to limit water volume to the lower flows required by federal and state water conservation laws, and in faucets with pull-out sprays, to prevent back-flow that could contaminate household drinking water.
It is important, therefore, that this little device, not much larger than a dime, be the best available.
The Swiss-designed Neoperl is considered slightly superior to Amfag's aerators, but as far as we can tell both are very good brands with little practical difference between them.
Faucet Designs
Most of Watermark's faucet designs are striking, and some are award-winning.
The industrial look Elan Vital bridge faucet won the Best of Year award from Interior Design magazine in 2016 after having already captured a KBCulture award in 2014.
Rustic industrial design is not new with Watermark. It was largely pioneered by in the late 1990s, but Watermarks interpretation of the design category is innovative.
In 2012 the Edge collection won the Product Innovation Award from Architectural Products Magazine. The Zen collection was voted K+BB's Bathroom Product of the Year in 2013. Interior Design magazine named the Lily 71 collection and honoree in its 2019 Best of Year design competition.
Watermark's creative in-house design team develops and prototypes most of its faucet designs but outside designers also contribute.
The H-Line collection is by Mark Zeff.
The Chelsea faucet, originally designed for Hastings Tile & Bath by designer Bob Gifford, was reintroduced by Watetmark under license by Hastings Tile in 2013.
The design cleverly marries the sweeping curves popular in traditional American faucet styles with an angularity typical of North European design to create a dramatic faucet that would be equally at home in a traditional or urban-contemporary bath.
The Elan Vital collection was designed in collaboration with the Fredman Design Group and kitchen and bath designer David Kotowsky of Hydrology in Chicago. (Mr. Kotowski is also the designer of the integrated Galley Tap, kitchen.)
The Brooklyn 31 Collection, with its unique handles based on gate valves from turn-of-the-20th-century New York, was created by Incorporated Architecture and Design, Inc., an international design firm based in New York City.
We believe that the design concept is a Watermark original, but it has been widely copied by companies such as the upscale and by the Chinese companies that supply mid-priced faucets to and
The Watermark Faucet Warranty – Oh My!
The first rule of buying a faucet is to read and understand the company's warranty to find out management's real opinion of its faucets..
Watermark's warranty tells us that the company thinks highly of its faucets and has confidence in their longevity and durability. But, it also tells us that Watetmark does not have the slightest idea of how to write a consumer product warranty.
We don't think it was written by a lawyer, but if it was, he or she was having an off day.
It is disjointed, ungainly, ambiguous, and does not comply with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301), the federal law that governs the content and form of consumer warranties.
Definition of "Lifetime"
The major problem is the definition of "Lifetime."
Watermark guarantees its faucets for a lifetime, except "parts made of glass, porcelain, or wood" and certain finishes.
The warranty's definition of "lifetime", however, is in language that is incredibly ambiguous and bound to get the company in trouble if its warranty ever ends up in court.
The word "lifetime" is not self-defining. As the courts have noted over and over, it needs to be defined in the warranty. Watermark's definition is the following:
" … for as long as [the original purchasers] own their home.
1. The first problem with this definition is that it excludes buyers that don't own their home – renters and lessees. Why Watetmark should want to exclude these buyers is a mystery. Especially in major urban areas where even rich people rent.
2. Second, is the phrase "their home". The home the buyer is required to own is not necessarily the home in which the faucet is installed. It can be any home. As long as the buyer owns a home, whether or not the faucet is installed in the home, the warranty is in effect.
3. The third is that the buyer is not required to continue to own the faucet for the warranty to remain in force. He is only required to own a home. This omission can result in very unexpected results.[1]
There's an addition to the definition a few sentences later evidently intended to clarify this ambiguity.
"This warranty is made to the original consumer purchaser in the original installation …"
All ths language does, however, is add to the confusion.
The term "in the original installation" modifies "the original consumer purchaser."
It is the purchser, not the faucet, that has to be in "the original installation." What constitutes the "original installation" of a purchaser is unknown and never clarified.
Magnuson-Moss adopts the ancient legal rule of contra proferentem that requires ambiguities in a legal document to be interpreted against the writer of the document (in the common-sense belief that it is the writer that has the best opportunity to produce a clear and unambiguous document).
Watermark's definition of "lifetime" will not fare well before a judge under this rule.
Whoever wrote it did not consider all of the possible contingencies[1] – something a good legal writer always does. This is just very inept, very amateurish legal drafting.
Other Legal Issues
The warranty has numerous other legal issues.
It does not comply with the minimum requirements for consumer product warranties mandated by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301). Here are a few examples.
Illegal Tie-Ins
"[The] use of any replacement parts other than genuine Watetmark Designs parts voids the warranty]."
This is called a tie-in provision and it is illegal under Magnuson-Moss which specifically prohibits tie-in provisions. (16 CFR § 700.10)
A buyer is free to use any parts he or she likes.
The warranty is also void for
"any damages due to misuse, abuse, neglect, accident, improper installation, improper care of finishes"
This provision is one of weirdest in the warranty.
If you accidentally scratch your faucet's finish, the entire warranty is immediately void, over, ended, finished, and kaput from that very instant forward for all time.
This wording illustrates the problem with copying warranty terms from other warranties without understanding precisely what they mean.
The writer of this warranty uses the word "voids" much to liberally where what is meant is "not covered." Admittedly it sounds very "legalish", but it's the wrong word. The two terms have very different legal effects and are not synonymous.
We cannot imagine a scenerio in which Watermark truly intends to void its warranty the very instant a buyer scratches a Watermark faucet.
Illegal Disclaimer of State Law Warranties
The warranty claims that it is the
"exclusive remedy" available to a buyer and "is in lieu of all other warranties of merchant ability [sic] and fitness for a particular purpose."
However, the general scheme of Magnuson-Moss is that a company's written warranty supplements but does not replace state law implied warranties of merchantability and fitness.
In consequence, Watetmark is not legally permitted to exclude implied warranties and its illegal attempt to do so is void. (15 U.S. Code § 2308)
Improper Exclusion of Incidental and Consequential Damages
The warranty procaims that the company will "not be liable for any labor or other expenses or for damages of any kind or nature."
The attempted exclusion has two prolems.
1. First, a limited warranty may exclude labor and other incidental and consequential damages[2], but only if the following qualifying statement is added to the warranty: (16 CFR § 701.3(8))
Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you.
The Watermark warranty does not contain the required qualifying statement. As a result, its attempt to exclude labor and other consequential and incidental damages from warranty coverage is without effect.
2. Secondly, while most states allow the exclusion of consequential and incidental damages, they do so if and only if they are clearly identified by name.
A general exclusion of "damages of any kind or nature" does not have the effect of excluding consequential and incidental damages.
Missing Required Notice
All consumer product warranties must contain the following qualifying language: (16 CFR § 701.3(9))
This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from State to State.
The Watermark warranty does not include the mandated language.
Obviously, the Watetmark warranty needs additional work by someone familiar with warranty law.
The problems with the warranty have existed almost since the company was founded, and we have criticized the warranty over several revisions of this report for almost 10 years and have more than once provided Watetmark with a copy of our Model Limited Lietime Warranty for use as a warranty template.
Watermark, however, seems completely satisfied with its ugly-duckling warranty as evidenced by the fact that it has made no effort to turn it into the swan it should be other than some minor grooming here and there over the years.
The Touch27 series of hands-free faucets is the inspiration of Clodagh Design Studio, also in New York City, which designs everything from ceramic tile to lipstick cases.
The name "Touch27" resulted in a trademark lawsuit by Delta Faucet. Delta considered the name too similar to its registered trademark, Touch20. The lawsuit settled in 2010. The settlement terms are confidential but allowed Watetmark to continue using the name Touch27 to identify its sensor faucets.
In addition to kitchen and bath faucets, the company supplies coordinating accessories and decorative hardware, primarily for the bath.
It does not, however, manufacture these accessories but buys them from accessory manufacturers including Camel Products, Inc. (Taiwan), Oannes Sanitaryware Co., Ltd. (China), and Integradora Empresarial Poblana, S.A. De C.V. (Mexico).
Many of its faucet component suppliers also make the accessories that coordinate with the faucets they supply.
Faucet Finishes
The photos in Watetmark's catalogs and on its website do not begin to do justice to its impeccable finishes.
It offers about twenty-seven basic finishes (or 25 or 26, sometimes even 37 or 38 – the number varies from press release to press release) and can provide special finishes on request.
It does most of its own plating and lacquer coating, and, according to company sources, has begun [3] finishing in-house. Formerly, PVD finishing was outsourced.
Other than identifying (which have no warranty), and two finishes as PVD, the Watermark website does not typically disclose the technology used to produce its finishes.
The company's two living finishes are Polished Natural brass and Aged Brass. These are just the brass from which the faucet is made. Polished brass is buffed to a high shine. Aged Brass is then given an artificial head start on tarnishing.
Polished Natural Brass will not stay polished very long. It will turn into aged brass within a few weeks or months unless polished frequently. Aged Brass will continue to tarnish until it turns a deep brown.
(PVD)
The company's other "brass" finishes are PVD finishes and a lot more care-free.
PVD Brass and Satin PVD Brass do not tarnish because they are not brass. They are a non-reactive (i.e. non-tarnishing) metal, usually titanium or zirconium, treated in a PVD chamber to look exactly like brass. PVD finishes are highly scratch resistant and impervious to most chemicals, and absolutely will not tarnish.
Finish Durability
Some finishes are more durable than others.
Some, the so-called , are expected to fade, discolor, and otherwise show the effect of use and wear over time. These results are built into the finish.
Other types of finishes, however, are expected to be more durable. They are not expected to fade, discolor, or show undue wear.
Here are common types of faucet finishes and their durability from most to least durable.
- (PVD) finishes are 10 to 20 times more scratch-resistant than electroplated chrome. They are also not affected by most household chemicals. In our experience, they are largely invulnerable to harm.
- Thin Film Ceramic (TFC) is the newest type of finish used on faucets. It is nearly as durable as PVD finishes. Very few companies are using it, but see
- is the old standby. It is a tough finish that will stand up to most abuse, but its durability depends on the metal used.
- Chrome is durable, nickel less so because it is inherently a softer metal – the reason chrome replaced nickel as the faucet finish of choice in the early 20th century.
- is essentially a paint applied in powdered form then heated in an oven to cure. It is considered semi-durable with about the same durability as the finish on your car.
- Lacquers are more vulnerable to damage than powder coatings. Clear lacquers may be applied to bare brass to prevent corrosion.
The colored finishes, Red, White, and Matte Black, are powder coatings – essentially a paint applied in powder form, then cured in an oven.
They are not nearly as hardy as metal finishes, damage more easily, and require more care and maintenance to retain their good looks.
Watermark Red is a RAL color (RAL 3200).[4] Black and White are not identified by Watermark as RAL colors. A RAL color can be paired with any object in any material with the same RAL code no matter where in the world it is made, and the colors are guaranteed to be identical.
To better understand RAL colors see RAL Color Standard on Wikipedia.
All other finishes, according to a company spokesperson, are electroplated.
Electroplating, invented by Italian chemist Luigi Brunatelli in 1805, is the oldest process still being used to finish faucets.
It involves immersing the faucet and the metal to be used as plating in an acid bath, then applying an electrical charge to both objects so metallic ions are drawn from the plating metal to the faucet.
Usually, multiple coats are applied, one or more undercoats and then two or more coats of the finish metal.
The top coat may be polished or brushed. Chrome, a relatively hard metal, is usually polished to a high shine. Nickel, a softer metal, is usually brushed to help hide the inevitable minor scratches.
Related Faucets
Watermark at one time supplied most, if not all, of the faucets sold in North America by the Italian bathware company, Devon & Devon.
Devon has, however, largely withdrawn from the North American market.
Watermark also provides some of the distinctive bath faucets sold by Rejuvenation, our favorite "house parts" company.
Watermark Website
In the past the structure of the Watermark website made it very difficult to just browse the online catalog for inspiration, now it's very easy to do so by scanning collections (Watermark calls them "ranges") of faucets by type: kitchen, lavatory, or bar faucets.
Gone is the frequent use of industry terminology about which we complained in earlier reports. You no longer need to know terms like monoblock or concealed edge to navigate to an appropriate faucet.
Once you find a faucet you might like, you will likely be disappointed in the information provided about the faucet. It is woefully insufficient for an informed buying decision.
Generally, only a single image of a faucet is available. Multiple images or, better yet, a 360° viewing feature such as is used by faucets, that allows the mouse to rotate the faucet to any viewing angle, are invaluable in fully visualizing the faucet.
Much of the information about a faucet is in linked .pdf downloads. Click the conspicuously marked buttons to download the documents.
- Specs: Displays a dimensioned drawing of the faucet. We expected detailed specifications for the faucet, but the drawing is all we got. There are no actual detailed specifications.
- Install: Downloads installation instructions for the faucet. These are useful to your plumber to identify any potential installation problems and any special tools needed.
- Installation instructions are often where you may find an exploded parts diagram.
- For most faucets, a parts diagram includes numbers identifying the parts. However, the corresponding legend that tells you what the numbers mean is missing. It is not possible, for example, to identify part 12 as an aerator or part 21 as a cartridge. So the parts diagram is not nearly as useful as it could be.
- Dwg:: Displays a 2d dimensioned drawing of the faucet in a CAD format, usually .dwg, the AutoCAD file format. CAD drawings are useful to architects and kitchen designers. However, 3d CAD models would be more useful.
Many faucets are missing one or more of these links.
Only a few faucet listings have a "Dwg" link. Some have a "Specs" link, others just an "Install" link. Some have a "Specs" link that opens Installation Instructions, just to make things a lot more confusing, and some links go absolutely nowhere.
Other graphics on the page include
- ADA which is just a graphic, not a link. If present the symbol indicates that, in the opinion of the company, the faucet is suitable for use by persons with physical limitations. It does not mean, however, that the faucet has been certified compliant with the ADA standard: ICC A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities.
- Handle Trims: Useful if in fact the faucet can be ordered with several handles. It would be much more useful if it displayed only those handles available on the selected faucet. It doesn't.
- You do have the option of sorting the handles by name or model number, a fairly useless feature, or by "range' (which is what Watetmark calls its collections). If you know the range of the faucet, you can display just the handle options available for that range. This is a little more useful.
- Finishes: Displays a finish chart showing the finishes available on the listed faucet. You have the option of displaying the finishes by price group, A through E. Selecting Group A displays the only finish available in that Group: Polished Chrome. Group E displays the twelve most expensive faucet finishes, and by expensive we mean they can easily double the cost of the faucet.
A lot of essential information about the faucet necessary for an informed buying decision is missing, including
- Cartridge Identification: There is no identification of the cartridge installed in a faucet other than "ceramic cartridge", which is not all that informative.
- Nearly every faucet made these days includes a ceramic cartridge. But, as there are good and not-so-good cartridges, it's useful to know the origin of the cartridge.
- Does the faucet include one of the better cartridges like those from the German firm, Flühs Drehtechnik, GmbH, or Kerox, Kft, both heavy-duty products with an established reputation for leak-free reliability? Or is it one of the second-rank cartridges such as KCG or Sedal? Or perhaps it is a no-name generic cartridge from China. We don't know because Watetmark does not say.
- We are truly mystified by the company's reticence about identifying its faucet cartridges. Based on our inspections, company-provided information, and reader feedback, Watetmark uses mostly excellent cartridges from companies with good reputations. Why keep that a secret?
- Secondary Material(s): Very few brass faucets are all brass. Most include secondary materials. The most common are zinc or a zinc-aluminum alloy and plastic.
- Zinc is considerably cheaper than lead-free brass.
- It is commonly used for parts not subject to water pressure – handles, base and wall plates (escutcheons), trim, and – to reduce the costs of production. Zinc in these components does no harm to the quality of the faucet.
- Plastic is another matter.
Understanding Finish Warranties
A finish warranty does not protect against everything that can go wrong with a faucet finish.
It covers defects caused by faulty materials or errors in the finishing process, generally subsumed under the rubric "manufacturing defects."
Blistering, delaminating, peeling, and spalling are the usual manufacturing defects. These are very rare – almost unheard of. The bad old days of peeling China chrome are long gone.
Most finish problems these days are caused by overzealous cleaning and ordinary wear and tear, neither of which is covered by a finish warranty.
If it peels, Watermark pays. But, if you scratch it or it turns a funny color after you polished it a few times with Wham-X All Purpose Miracle Cleaner, you are on your own.
- Often described as "ABS" (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), "composite", or "non-metalic" (because faucet companies do not like to use the word plastic), plastic is common in aerators and cartridges where the material seems to work well.
- But, it is also used in spray heads where it does not work nearly as well.
- Even upscale faucet companies like have turned to plastic spray heads (the industry term is "wands") because it is a lot cheaper than lead-free brass, even less expensive than zinc, and does not get hot in use like some metal wands.
- But, plastic also has many more problems than metal in spray wands and fails much more often.
- Watermark does not identify the material used to make its faucet sprays. Based solely on a visual inspection, we believe the sprays are netal (brass or a zinc alloy). We did not find any plastic sprays. However, we did not examine every spray and cannot exclude plastic wands.
- Warranty Link: The pre-sale availability rule (16 CFR § 702.3) under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. §2301) now requires internet sellers of consumer products to provide a "conspicuous" link to the product warranty unless the full text of the warranty is displayed with the product listing.
- Watermark links to its warranty, but the link is down at the bottom of a very long page, and not t all conspicuous.
A spokesperson for the company told us that any additional information needed about a faucet is always available from the company through customer service, including CAD drawings and 3d models.
Buying Rule for
Smart Faucet Buyers
Warranty
Never buy a faucet unless you have read and understand the faucet's warranty. It tells you more than the company wants you to know about management's real opinion about the durability and life expectancy of the faucets it sells.
Learn how to read and interpret faucet warranties at Faucet Basics, Part 6: Understanding Faucet Warranties.
Model Lifetime Warranty: For an example of a warranty that avoids Watetmark's drafting problems and complies with the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, download and read our Model Limited Lifetime Warranty.
We tested that claim by sending e-mails over a 40-day period from diferent e-mail addresses requesting CAD drawings and 3d models for several faucets.
Watermark did not respond to any of the requests.
A follow-up telephone call disclosed that the customer service agent had no idea where to get a 3d model for a Watermark faucet, or even who to ask.
We give the site an A- for ease of use but only a C+ for the information provided about each faucet.
The site is striking and entertaining and presents its products in an attractive manner, but it is not very informative about some important details of Watetmark faucets.
Faucet Installation
Our plumbers found the installation instructions easy to follow and graded installation as "Easy" on a scale of "Very Easy" to "Very Difficult".
Faucet Warranty
The warranty is poorly written, redundant, ad in parts ambiguous (see sidebar).
Warranty and parts support is only fair. The process of claiming under Watetmark's warranty is unduly cumbersome.
The customer pays the cost of returning defective faucet parts to Watetmark and must pay for the replacement parts before they will be shipped. If the returned (also at the customer's expense) parts are determined by Watetmark to be defective, the company will credit the cost of the new parts (but not the customer's shipping costs).
The whole process seems perfectly designed to make Watetmark look suspicious-minded, miserly, and cheap, and is almost guaranteed to ensure that a customer that makes a warranty claim will come away from the process determined to never again, under any circumstance, buy a Watermark product. The process is just an idiotic business practice.
The Better Business Bureau has rated the company's response to consumer issues a B- on its scale of A+ to F for five years running, other than a bump up to A+ for a few months in 2020, then back down to B-.
The basis for the rating, according to the BBB, is that "Watermark does not respond to customer complaints."[5] Watetmark has not been vetted for BBB accreditation.
Most of the complaints about the company we receive have to do with failure to honor its warranty or unwarranted delays in sending replacement parts.
We also get the occasional complaint about customer service representatives seeming wholly disinterested, distracted, and even rude. We think that much of the reported rudeness is just New Yorkers being New Yorkers, which to the rest of the county can seem brusque and impolite.
Retail Sources and M.A.P. Policy
The company sells through authorized dealers located mostly on both coasts of the U.S. If you live in the middle of the country, a Watermark dealer may be hard to find.
Some of the Watetmark collection is available from internet plumbing sites like Quality Bath, and some general merchandisers such as Amazon.com. Only a limited number of finishes are available through these outlets, however.
Do not expect substantial discounts on Watetmark faucets even if you bypass your local showroom.
Watermark seeks "to maintain the integrity of the product line" and a "quality brand image" through a minimum advertised pricing (M.A.P.) policy that prohibits advertising a price "more than 15%" below the company's suggested list price.
Dealers may still sell below the minimum advertised price, they just cannot advertise that lower price.
Testing & Certification
In 2010 Watermark fell afoul of the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act and was assessed a civil fine of $135,104.00 by the U. S. Department of Energy for failing to certify that certain of its products complied with federal water conservation standards. (Order:2010-CW-1404) Then in 2011 the DOE again imposed a penalty of $4,200.00 on the company for having "distributed in commerce" products that did not meet federal conservation guidelines. (Order:2011-SW-2908)
Having learned its lesson the hard way, Watermark now appears to comply fully with Energy Policy and Conservation Act reporting and water flow requirements (see above).
For faucets made or assembled in North America or Europe comparable in quality and strength of warranty to Watetmark, consider
Conclusions
If you are in the market for a good quality luxury faucet that features cutting-edge design and incorporates only first-class components, Watetmark would be a company worth a look. The craftsmanship and finish of the faucets we examined were tops. The best-in-class Flühs and Kerox cartridges and Neoperl® aerators promise a lifetime of faultless service.
Be aware, however, that if your faucet does break, you will get warranty service only after jumping through several irritating procedural hoops that could make the process needlessly long and annoying and leave you without a working faucet for weeks, even months.
We are continuing to research the company. If you have experience with Watetmark faucets, good, bad, or indifferent, we would like to hear about it, so please contact us or post a comment below.
Footnotes:
Buyer installs a Watetmark faucet in his house. A year later he replaces the faucet with a newer faucet and gives the Watetmark faucet to daughter Nell who installs it in her house.
At that point, the warranty on the Watetmark faucet is still in force because Buyer still "owns their house."
Buyer no longer owns the faucet but continuing to own the faucet is not a requirement for continuing to own the benefits under the warranty.
Buyer cannot transfer the warranty to Nell because, under the terms of the warranty, only the original buyer is entitled to the warranty.
The question is: if Nell's faucet starts to leak, can Buyer claim under the warranty for Nell's benefit?
The answer is "yes." A warranty is a contract. As a general rule, a party to a contract can enforce the contract for the benefit of a person who is not a party to the contract.
2. Most faucet warranties exclude (the legal term is "disclaim") consequential and incidental damages without ever explaining what they are, and the Watetmark warranty is no exception.
Very briefly, these are damages other than the defect in the faucet itself. For example, your Watermark faucet leaks and damages your kitchen cabinets. The leak is a "direct damage" to the faucet. The damage to the cabinets is a collateral or "consequential damage"..
If you need to hire an appraiser to estimate the loss in value of your damaged cabinets, the appraisal fees are an "incidental damage" – part of your actual cost of making and proving a warranty claim. Collectively, consequential and incidental damages are often called "indirect" or "special" damages.
3. PVD, an acronym for "physical vapor deposition", is the latest space-age faucet finishing technology, rapidly replacing electroplating as the finish of choice.
The process is almost science fiction. Load a chamber with unfinished faucets, then remove all the air and add back a carefully calculated mix of nitrogen and reactive gases. Add a chunk of the metal to be used for the coating, usually in the form of a rod. Heat that rod to a temperature so high that the rod dissolves into individual atoms. The atoms mix with the various reactive gases to get the color and finish effects you want and are then deposited in a very thin layer – 2 to 5 microns (.00008-.0002") – on the faucets.
Because the coating bonds to the faucet at a molecular level, the finish is incredibly hard (Rockwell HRC-80+ and Vicker HV-2600+). In abrasion tests, PVD finishes were found to be 10 to 20 times more scratch-resistant than the old standard: chrome electroplated finish.
4. RAL is a collection of color standards originally developed in Germany and administered by RAL GmbH, a non-profit company. They are used primarily in Europe to define colors for paints and powder coatings which allows manufacturers to specify exact colors using a four-digit code (i.e. RAL 6015 "Black Olive").
The advantage of the RAL system to consumers is its precision. You can buy a RAL-colored faucet from Watetmark, towel bars from Fantini in Italy, and a toilet seat made in Taiwan, and as long as the RAL codes are the same, the colors will be an exact match.
A handy chart of RAL Classic colors can be found on Wikipedia.
5. BBB ratings represent the BBB's opinion of how the business is likely to interact with its customers. The BBB rating is based on information BBB is able to obtain about the business, including complaints received from the public. BBB seeks and uses information directly from businesses and from public data sources. For more information, see Overview of Ratings.