We live in a fast-paced world where innovation seems to transform our lives dramatically every decade. Yet some things remain unchanged, as if they’ve reached immortal status. One such example is the paper clip, associated with the “Gem” design of two simple loops of wire. So ordinary we hardly notice it, the Gem is one of those rare objects that achieved design immortality without ever being patented.
The story begins in the late 19th century, when inventors scrambled to solve the problem of binding loose sheets of paper as the Industrial Revolution unleashed unprecedented volumes of paperwork. Dozens of solutions appeared: spiked fasteners, awkward pins, and convoluted wire twists. But in Britain, around the 1890s, a company called The Gem Manufacturing Company began producing a double-looped wire clip whose smooth shape made it easy to slide on and off without tearing pages.
The Gem design spread quickly, conquering offices across Europe and America. Its symmetry gave it strength, while its rounded ends prevented snags. Unlike rival clips that bent out of shape or slipped free, the Gem held papers securely, and soon secretaries and clerks everywhere demanded them. By the time patents expired on competing designs, the Gem was too entrenched to be dislodged.
While most of the tools around us continue to evolve - phones get thinner, cars smarter, software endlessly updates - the problem of keeping sheets of paper together seems to have reached its perfect balance with the Gem. That’s the strange triumph of the paper clip: an object so perfectly resolved that history had no edits to make.
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