Officially introduced in 1938, the Schwinn Paramount grew from the brand’s professional six-day racing team. Emil Wastyn had already been building its frames in Chicago. Early Paramounts used chromium-molybdenum steel tubing and brass-brazed lugs, a construction method that placed the builder’s workmanship at the heart of the bicycle.
In the late 1950s, Frank Greco and Frank Brilando developed silver-brazing processes. Updated frames gained double-butted Reynolds 531 tubing, Nervex Professional lugs and Campagnolo dropouts. Production began in 1959 inside a fenced-off factory area known as “the Cage”, with Wanda Omelian among the skilled brazers.
Marc Muller shaped the next chapter. In the early 1980s, the Paramount Design Group moved to Waterford, Wisconsin, becoming both a production facility and a design laboratory. Columbus SL and SP tubing met investment-cast Henry James lugs. The OS concept followed in 1988, introducing larger-diameter frame tubes.
In 1993, Richard Schwinn and Marc Muller founded Waterford Precision Cycles, taking over the Paramount research and production facility. The workshop later built for other brands, including lugged frames for Rivendell. Launched in 1998, Gunnar developed the TIG-welded steel direction. Paramount’s legacy continued through several approaches to frame construction.