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I was looking around for Kolinskys on eBay, are fakes a big problem, or a problem at all? Some prices seemed super low. I know the obvious solution is to buy a known brand, but I was just curious.

Example

For miniature sized brushes, that's pretty normal, I've paid only slightly more for Winsor and Newton Series 7 from a small independent art supply shop locally, so I'm surprised you think they're cheap.

Kolinsky sable is just the material, and it isn't super expensive unless you buy a quality brand (but that does repay the investment, W+N are fantastic, Rosemary and Co almost as nice for dramatically less cash.)

EDIT

My mistake, I thought that was a multi listing for the sizes and the cost was per brush!

Ok, that is definitely cheap, but for a non-brand brush, not excessively, most of what I said still applies.

There are "kolinsky sable" brushes and "red sable" brushes.

The kolinsky sable is a species of weasel found in Siberia and parts of China. The highest quality brushes are made with true kolinsky sable. They also tend to be very expensive but definitely worth it.

Red sable brushes are made from weasels other than a true kolinsky weasel. They are "red" like the kolinsky but are not as difficult to harvest or as prized, so they cost less. They do offer a decent compromise in quality to cost though.

The normal sized brushes used for painting minis aren't that expensive ($10-15) simply because they don't require much sable but look at the price for the same series brush in a #7 and you're looking at a $100 brush.

mjp808 wrote:
I was looking around for Kolinskys on eBay, are fakes a big problem, or a problem at all? Some prices seemed super low. I know the obvious solution is to buy a known brand, but I was just curious.

Example

I would say that, in this case, the chances of that being actual Kolinsky Sable is really, really low.

Kolinsky brushes are getting hard to come by right now because of import restrictions.

i personally like to get my Kolinskys from dickblick.com...
at least they are a business you can trust to give you what they are advertising, and have a good selection of brands to choose from...
they give a discount, but the shipping usually cancels that out, so you end up breaking even...

cheers
jah

I've recently been looking into upgrading to Kolinskies. I'm just going straight out for W & N Series 7 as I'm not beating around the bush - if it's good enough for Queen Victoria, it's certainly good enough for me Regarding price, I've seen some places advertise W&N Series 7 size #2 brushes (Big watercolour ones) for as much as £200+. Fortunately the smaller the brush, the cheaper they are (As noted above, less hair means a lower cost). At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. If you buy W&N Series 7, then chances are, you'll never need another brand. Conversely, if you buy cheap, then you're likely to be disappointed. At least that's my theory - you speculate to accumulate.

 Warpig1815 wrote:
I've recently been looking into upgrading to Kolinskies. I'm just going straight out for W & N Series 7 as I'm not beating around the bush - if it's good enough for Queen Victoria, it's certainly good enough for me Regarding price, I've seen some places advertise W&N Series 7 size #2 brushes (Big watercolour ones) for as much as £200+. Fortunately the smaller the brush, the cheaper they are (As noted above, less hair means a lower cost). At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. If you buy W&N Series 7, then chances are, you'll never need another brand. Conversely, if you buy cheap, then you're likely to be disappointed. At least that's my theory - you speculate to accumulate.

W&N Series 7 brushes are hard to come by in the States because there is a hold on the importation of the weasel hair they are made of. Raphaël brushes are available, for the time being at least, and they are an equally fine brush (I prefer them over the Series 7 myself, but YMMV).

Also, where did you find a W&N Series 7 size #2 that was over £200? Size #2 isn't that large of a brush and it's actually a perfect size for miniature painting (I use a size #1 myself for everything, even fine detail like eyes). Once you start getting over size #6 or so do the prices jump to the $100+ range.

@ScootyPuffJunior - I'm not sure where I found that brush. I'm sort of sure it wasn't a set, it was just one brush, but the site I found it on escapes me. I'm saying this of course, but it may be that I have got the sizes (or price ) mixed up. Anyway, my main point was still that you get what you pay for - there's no point in buying cheap (at least when it comes down to things you rely on) as in the end you'll only end up spending the same amount, or more, than if you just bought good quality in the first place. Fortunately, being in the UK, I don't think there's a restriction for W & N Kolinsky brushes over here, so they're fairly easy to come by. Also, seeing as they hold a Royal Warrant, you're pretty much assured they'll be high quality due to the stringent rules to maintain standards.

I've got Blick Studio Kolinsky, Raphael and W&N Series 7 Miniature brushes. You can't go wrong with any of them; though I guess at this point you get what you can find.

The good news is that with proper care, they'll last for years. I have a Blick brush that I've been using for probably 7 years.