In order to achieve the highest standard regarding lightfastness, resolubility and stability, Schmincke use the best raw materials available. There is no compromise in quality - the highest standards of artists' pigments allow the highest level of lightfastness.
Schmincke's water-color binding medium is Kordofan Gum Arabic from the Sahara region, due to it differing from year to year it is tested and the best of the batch is selected to used with their pigments.
They use an optimal amount of oxgall to avoid undesired colored formations and undissolved pigment, allowing the perfect flow of color.
Another quality of Schmincke's Horadam watercolors is their re-usability. You will find the same formulation in both their tubes and pans, which means that paint which has dried onto your palette can be easily re-wetted and painted with again.