Get inspired by a brush favoured by the likes of Queen Victoria: Winsor & Newton are offering you the chance to win a personalised Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Water Colour brush, their flagship product and widely regarded as the best in its field.
Queen Victoria was so fond of the handmade size no. 7 that she issued a Royal Warrant for its production, in 1866. Production of the brush has remained unchanged ever since. Most of the Winsor & Newton workforce spend their working lives at the company and pass on the secrets of their trade to the next generation. Percy Sims joined in 1925, receiving training by brushmakers who had crafted the No.7 Series for Queen Victoria, and in turn passed on to Bob Harrod in 1969, who now supervises the factory. As Bob Harrod says: ‘This is a job where your heart must be in it. The facts are that, at this point, we can’t find a better way of making a brush to the standard we require.’
The process, although historic, is by no means simple. The Series 7 differs from more common sable brushes in that Winsor & Newton uses only pure Kolinsky hair sourced from the Siberian Kolinksy. The hair is graded for good spring (the strongest filaments give good control of the brush head and ensure the point continually reforms), and is combed and separated into individual hair lengths by skilled ‘Dressers’. Assembling is a laborious process – every hair in the brush head is checked under a magnifying glass. You can view more in the below video
The competition to win a personalised series 7 brush will run on the Winsor & Newton website, where you all you have to do to enter is register, watch a brush-making video (above) and answer a simple question. The competition is live now and will run until the 31 March 2017, with a total of 50 brushes on offer. Enter here – and good luck!
Enter Here: www.winsornewton.com/
