Metal Finishes.

A guide to our finishes.

Our products are finished by hand, so natural variations occur and will add a unique beauty to each piece. Most of our finishes are produced using one of the following methods.

What is a living finish?

Living finishes are produced by either careful and extensive polishing or brushing of the surface (PBW & BBW) or by working a patination solution into the surface of the metal until the required patina is achieved (MABW & DBZW). Living finishes will naturally age and wear over time and with usage: this allows each piece to develop a beautiful and unique look, adding character to the design scheme.

In addition to the finishes below, we can provide bespoke finishes depending on your requirements, including antique silver, copper, a variety of golds, as well as matte and gloss black. We also offer other materials including shagreen and solid bronze.

We sometimes get asked if we can apply a lacquer to our finishes; however, we don’t usually recommend this as we have not yet found a lacquer that is durable enough for door hardware.

What is an ageless finish?

Either naturally unchanging or boasting a protective coating to seal the finish, our new ageless collection of metal finishes allows you to select hardware that will not patinate or tarnish over time, preserving the original aesthetic.

Using robust ceramic coating technology, we’re now able to suspend some of our original metal finishes in time, such as Mid Antique Brass, allowing the hardware to be retained as it was when it was first hand-finished.

Plated vs solid finishes

Plating is a finishing process in which a thin layer of metal coats a substrate, the substrate that we use is solid brass, the brass is pre-polished or brushed by hand before plating to achieve either a brushed or polished surface.

Solid finishes is when the product is the same solid metal all the way through, for example stainless steel, or copper. There is no other metal layer applied to give it a different aesthetic.

These finishes can either be ‘living’ (they patinate over time), or ‘ageless’, as they will maintain a consistent aesthetic.