25 May 2018

Hansgrohe Selecta turns 50

Submitted by: Bronwyn
Hansgrohe Selecta turns 50

The introduction of the Hansgrohe Selecta showerhead in 1968 transformed the weekly bath day into a shower experience.

A Classic turns 50

 

Fifty years of success and a long time classic: the Selecta shower head by Hansgrohe, the bathroom specialist from the Black Forest. In 1968, it was launched on the market boasting “Guaranteed quality workmanship 100% made in the Black Forest”, it soon became a customer favourite and to this day remains the quintessential handheld showerhead. And who doesn’t remember enjoying a shower with Selecta on those memorable Saturday bath days, which from 1968 on finally became more fun because, for the first time ever, an adjustable showerhead allowed us to switch between gentle and invigorating sprays.

The overall design of the Selecta showerhead reflected the taste of the times: geared to deliver the utmost in function and technology, it featured a very technical look with angular elements. To this day, the first showerhead with an adjustable spray is still the Hansgrohe Group’s unrivalled bestseller with more than 30 million units sold; outselling even the VW Beetle, which, having sold 21.5 million vehicles until June 2002, was the world’s best-selling car. ¹ The Selecta’s success was due to the construction boom in the late 1960s, which caused sales to skyrocket. In 1968, Hansgrohe sold 70,000 Selecta showerheads; just three years later that number had already jumped to 606,000. 

Hansgrohe made showers popular 

However, the Selecta’s success story really began over sixty years ago. Under the motto “Finally hands free” Hansgrohe had been producing and selling shower sets since the early 1950s; the sets consisted of an Unica wall bar with an adjustable showerhead holder, a hose and a handheld shower. For the first time, these sets made it possible for users to position the showerhead at the desired height and shower hands free. Today, hand showers and wall bars are standard bathroom features all over the world—back then they were a stroke of genius and revolutionised shower habits. 

Selecta – the first adjustable hand shower 

Finally, Selecta was launched on the market in 1968. This new showerhead allowed the intensity of the spray to be adjusted independently by turning the spray head. It impressed with its innovative design, material and above all functionality. For the first time, Plexiglass was combined with the handle and spray head’s chrome-plated parts; the refraction of light created by this modern, shatter-resistant acrylic enhanced the metallic effect. 

Just a year later, Selecta featured another technical innovation: a plastic container was installed between the showerhead and the water supply in which water and previously added shower gel were mixed automatically. This model of the classic Selecta showerhead rendered lathering unnecessary, making the overall shower experience even more comfortable. 

¹ https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/news/40-jahre-vw-golf-generationen-auto-im-wandel/

In 1974, a utility model was registered for the original Selecta to protect the product from being copied. But copycats soon found ways of imitating the original and to this day, similar showerheads can be found in DIY store shelves. Until 2015, Hansgrohe continued to deliver the original Selecta showerhead made in the Black Forest to all of Europe, the USA, and even to South Africa.

As part of the internationally active Hansgrohe Group, hansgrohe is the premium brand for showers, shower systems, bathroom and kitchen taps, as well as kitchen sinks. With its many award-winning products, hansgrohe shapes the flow of water in the kitchen and the bathroom. Because this is where people spend the time they treasure most and experience precious moments in the interaction with water. With these moments in mind, hansgrohe develops ground-breaking solutions that unite extraordinary design, long-lasting quality and intelligent features for maximum ease of use. hansgrohe turns water into an impressive experience.

hansgrohe. Meet the beauty of water.

-- Ends --

Issued By: The Lime Envelope

On Behalf Of: Hansgrohe 

For Media Information: Bronwyn Levy This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Telephone: 011 467 9233

About the Hansgrohe Group

With its brands AXOR and hansgrohe, the Hansgrohe Group, based in Schiltach/Southern Germany, enjoys a reputation as a leader in quality, innovation and design within the bath and kitchen industry. The Hansgrohe Group brings form and function to water with taps, showerheads and shower systems. The 116-year history of the company is marked by innovations such as the first hand-held shower with multiple spray types, the first pull-out kitchen tap, and the first wall bar to hold a hand-held shower. The company holds more than 17,000 active propriety rights. The Hansgrohe Group stands for long-lasting quality products. With 34 subsidiaries and 21 sales offices supplying products in more than 140 countries, the company is a reliable partner to its customers around the world. The Hansgrohe Group, its brands and products have won numerous awards, including more than 500 design prizes since 1974. Sustainable production of resource-conserving products is central to the company’s business activities around the globe. The products of the Hansgrohe Group are featured in projects around the world, such as the luxurious ocean liner Queen Mary 2, and the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. The Group’s high-quality standards are ensured by five wholly-owned production facilities: two in Germany, one each in France, the United States and China. In 2016, the Hansgrohe Group generated a turnover of EUR 1.029 billion. It employs more than 4,800 people worldwide, about 60 percent of whom work in Germany. 

iF Design Leader in the Sanitation Industry 

In the current ranking of the International Forum Design (iF) of the best companies in the world for design, the Hansgrohe Group, with its brands AXOR and hansgrohe, ranks sixth among some 2,000 listed companies; the 1,040 points awarded to Hansgrohe also made it the top sanitation company in the iF rankings.

www.hansgrohe.com/design