Borciani Bonazzi Professional Artist Brush UNICO Series 800 SIZE 16 Mongoose Synthetic Short Handle Round Made in Italy

I use this for watercolour and currently this brand is my “go-to” brush for everything watercolour. I normally only paint with rounds and this has a pointy enough tip for me to do fine detail and the belly holds plenty of water for larger areas. The brush is really ergonomic and comfortable to hold for long periods and in months of use, I’ve barely lost a bristle. The ferrule is tight and well made, the hair has plenty of snap and spring back, and they feel high quality.

The downside is the sizing. I purchased this 16 expecting it to be double the size of tiny 8 in this brand I had earlier purchased. Riot does not tell you the width of the ferrule or length of the fibres so it is difficult when purchasing online to determine what size a brush may be. The most commonly used watercolour brushes are 6, 8 and 10. Based on the previous brushes I’d purchased I expected this 16 to be similar in size to an 8-10. It is much closer to a size 12. If you go to a Bunnings craft aisle and look at their watercolour brushes, this brand’s size 8 is the same size as their size 3 whilst this size matches their size 12 round. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the sizing. Doubling or halving doesn’t help you. I just have no idea how to find the sweet spot. But the brushes themselves are lovely to use.