I invested over a thousand dollars in some of these brushes last year. I had been loving Isabey paint brushes all of my life until now. I bought all they had in the store and bought more online. First, I noticed that the hairs were coated with something that made them less willing to absorb the color. It felt really strange to have to keep dipping a brush that large into the vat. I hoped the hairs would roughen up over time. But far worse came as the wire popped open on the brush. First time use, and I had to re-wire the brush. Ok, anybody can have an off day of production, I thought, and loaded up the next brush. Again. Wire popped. Stop and re-wire. Ok, I have a drawer full of two-hundred dollar brushes rewired after the first use. They're misshapen at this point. I am sad my old faithful is no longer. So, I wrote the company I bought them from, Dick Blick. Blick informed me that production had moved from France to Africa and around the move, quality became an issue. I have a thousand dollars in it. Too late, Blick told me, I was past the return date. We know they're defective and sorry about your luck, from Blick. Get them old from yard sales, perhaps, but not new. They are no good.