You know it's professional and will last years when you first hold it in your hands. Then when you use it, you will write a spot in your will for your children's inheritance. Man Da Vinci makes a great brush! Do your research into What exactly you need for your style and size before you buy any brush. You almost never need more than 3-6 brushes in water color. I bought this and the Escoda travel 3pack. I'm pretty set for all my portrait and landscape watercolors.

Excellent brush well worth using.

I love this brush - very good quality !

Ah, the big brushes, or mops. Not exactly a mop because these brushes hold a point that you can actually get a fine line with. These are superior in holding a large amount of paint. Takes a little practice to not leave too much water in the brush, and have a towel available for squeezing out water. Very fun to jump up to the big brushes, it takes your painting to a new level that can't be achieved with small brushes. You feel like you're running with the big dogs.

The perfect watercolor brush at a very reasonable price.

AMENDMENT 08/22/2013I have painted with it and I do really like this brush BUT.... Take care when after you rinse it clean to make sure you hang it upside-down to dry and make sure it is STRAIGHT otherwise the brush will tilt to one side which is NOT good. If that happens DO NOT leave it like this, wet it again and re dry properly. Do not know if this is a flaw, probably not as others will do the same that are Sable or a Sable mix and the very thin synthetics, like the liners.A great item to buy from the cosmetics area is the Benjabelle Mini Brush Tree holder, which allows you to hang your brushes tip down. There is one for thin handled brushes named above, which I would recommend highly and one for thick brush handles which I just bought. The original is more expensive and I think these other two are better.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Complete review after I paint with a few times but seems like an excellent brush and price is great! It seems well made and not factory seconds which I was worried about due to the price, which I paid $55 and some change for it. It has a nice really full belly but does need to be soaked to remove the stuff they put on new brushes to hold the hair in place until it is ready to be used. I forget what it is called.The handle is solid and sits well and balanced in my hand. Has a pretty good point but I will be using this for washes or broad stroked on large paintings so that was not necessary. I think this usually sells for well over $100 even on sale, to the price on AMAZON cannot be beat!If after painting I see issues, I will amend this review. But, Da Vinci Cosmotop Mix B as supposed to be one of the best mixed hair brushes out there for watercolour and some artists actually use the whole line instead of the Rolls Royce of Kolinsky Sable. I have both, this make in this size and size 10, to see how it holds up to my Kolinsky, but I also have Winsor and Newton Series7 Kolinsky brushes in 6 ($95) and 10 $289). In addition I have Raphael Rhapsody Kolinksy in sizes up to 8, hundreds of dollars there also. So, I hope this stands up to the hype because the Kolinsky brushes break the bank.I have also recently bought SilverWhite Synthetics for detail work and loooove them, they are white nylon. You can get them at the "Brush Guys", an online store that have amazing prices, got a bunch in fact all that I needed for under $30 to include shipping. They also have a brand called Richeson Extreme Kolinsky that are supposed to rival the Winsor and Newton's Series 7 and will eventually buy one to try, the prices are really, really inexpensive for pure "male" Kolinksy sable brushes, so a little skeptical, but I have a feeling I will be switching.Issue about shipping...For some reason when you choose free shipping it now takes 2 weeks to get your stuff and this has been a consistent issue for 6 months now. I think that management has changed their philosophy about free shipping as before I would ALWAYS get my stuff within 5 days. NOT anymore, so keep that in mind when purchasing and opting for free shipping. I think that it is their way to in a passive aggressive manner get us to pay for shipping or join "Prime" for $80. Just my 2 cents.

This brush performs like kolinsky sable! I am a watercolorist and have used kolinsky sable (I own two of them); and honestly, this brush is just as good as far as I'm concerned. It is wonderful to have this large size for an affordable price. The tip creates fine detail and retains its shape. The large size permits me to wash over larger areas all with one brush. It has spring to it, it holds a lot of water that it delivers on the paper in smooth consistent strokes. In fact, I have been using this brush exclusively as of late. The wood barrel is high quality and the larger size feels good in ones hand. Most excellent and highly recommended. I can't say enough about this brush except that it is one of my best friends and I love it!

Holds lots of water and paint, and has a very nice point. Not as soft and floppy as the squirrel mops so you have more control. Shipping was faster than I expected during the Christmas rush.