i just have to say i love our polished nickel fixtures!! they've only been in since last summer- we have cifial and hansgrohe fixtures and rh switchplates, etc---no grohe. but, it is simple to 'polish'- just wipe and shine as you would chrome. i don't THINK it will be less durable than chrome-hope not!

I find it hard to tell the diff between the chrome and nickel finishes but others have said that the nickel has a warmer tone to it. Rumours in the kitchen forum have nickel on the way out fashion wise but those guys are usually decades ahead of their time.

I had a Grohe kitchen faucet in my last house. It seemed such an extravagance at the time. However, after replacing a few faucets due to two big strong sons and a big strong husband slamming them on/off and breaking them or having something on the inside bottom rust out and cause slow leaks into cabinet the Grohe was money well spent. I should have just bought the Grohe to start with and saved money on junk. I bought a Hansgrohe bathroom facet from Costco for my sonâÂÂs new-ish place and it has stood up well to the abuse. The only negative is that his one piece leverâÂÂs red & blue hot cold dots markers are mostly warn off. Not big deals unless he plans on selling as the home inspectors around here write you up for that. I just bought Hansgrohe facets for my master bath remodel so havenâÂÂt used them yet. I bought Delta for the guest bath. The Hansgrohe are at least twice as heavy as the Delta.

i chose chrome for faucet and potfiller. for the exact reason you stated. more timeless.... and finally something i wanted was the cheaper version of itself. it's also attractive. i like shiny things. i'm a crow like that. my appliances are ss and i have white cabs, black and white tile floor on diagonal, and wicked white granite on island, absolute black on perimeter. white subway tile bs.