![]() ![]() What I would say from that is what this factory has is hand skills. Shane Buckingham: We can't afford to let standards drop in any way, shape, or form. The smallest-brush-size hairs are just 7 millimeters long, shorter than an average eyelash. Every single hair is checked over by hand. The removed upside-down hairs can be flipped and reused. And most importantly, as each natural hair comes to a point, every hair must be the correct way up. Hairs that are blunt or twisted have to be discarded. The nine brush makers each have 27 years of experience, on average. This skill takes years of training and practice. And the skilled brush makers can effortlessly separate between 28- and 32-millimeter-length hairs just with their hands. The brushes have to be made with hair at its natural length. ![]() The wool has to be removed with a comb, and the hairs are packaged up and carefully boiled and ironed. ![]() Once the hairs are cleaned and graded, it's time to start making the brush. Kolinsky hairs are chosen because every single strand has a surface of directional, interlocking scales, increasing the surface area and giving the hairs their strength.Īnd while many other natural and synthetic hairs are used for brushes, nothing has quite matched the quality of sable. These weasels are hunted sustainably every spring under CITES guidelines across Siberia and Manchuria. Each brush head is made from kolinsky sable, a Siberian weasel that's hair is said to cost three times the price of gold by weight. The components play a big part in the cost. You've got to get, like anything, you've got a skill and you build on that, and you get to learn the skill, and then you get to do the speed. When you first start, you would probably only make a few. I worked 18 years, and I had 12 years off, and I've been back 11, so that's 28 years I've been working for the company. Sandra Harris: I joined here when I was 16. It takes three years to train, and there are only nine brush makers in the world that can make these top-of-the-range Series 7 brushes. The intricate work and dexterity required means that these brushes are almost exclusively made by women. This factory now makes over 25 million brushes a year. And so, in 1946, set up a new factory in Lowestoft, England, a fishing town with a history of rope making. To achieve this, the company needed skilled brush makers. Since then, the skill and craftsmanship that goes into making each one of these brushes has remained exactly the same. Originally created on the request of Queen Victoria, the Series 7 brush was first made in 1866 and was designed to be the finest possible brush for watercolor painting. So why would anyone pay for a brush that costs over 100 times the price? You can pick up a cheap, synthetic brush for under $2, but a Series 7 could cost you over $300. The largest-size brush can take almost a week and a half to make. Narrator: Making a Series 7 kolinsky sable watercolor brush isn't easy. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. ![]()
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