We are doing both Emtek and Baldwin :). We are doing Baldwin in the unlacquered brass finish for most of the hardware. This is not a standard finish on the Emtek and we did not want the shiny lacquered brass as we are building a new "old" house and we wanted it to patina over time. Interestingly, when I was in Atlanta at the hardware showroom they said 50 percent of what they are selling now is unlacquered brass - guess I am not the only one looking for patina!

Baldwin Estate does have a finish called Vintage which is unlacquered and it has been treated so it has started to age but that line is out of our budget. I figured with 3 boys, our brass will get patina in no time!

We are doing a few Emtek knobs however because I loved the crystal egg knob. I didn't want egg knobs all over - they feel different in the hand and I thought I would get used to it but wasn't sure - but I am putting one on my powder room door (unlacquering the brass rosette myself). I am also using this same knob on my closet doors in the hallway from master bedroom to bath, but in the satin nickel finish. We have an easy place to transition the hardware so you won't see the brass and nickel at the same time, and the closet doors will be narrow french mirrored doors so the crystal seemed appropriate. We will continue the nickel into the master bath . . .

Not sure this really helps but we just made this decision so I thought I would share my experience!

Hi,

We are also building a new "old" house. Your choices sound great. How do you unlacquer the brass, by the way? I'm starting to lean away from the brass egg in the whole house because I too am worried I won't get used to it. I think I'm going to search for a flattened round unlacquered brass that looks Colonial or Georgian in feel and do the crystal only on some doors.

Thanks! :)

FWIW - I have egg knobs throughout my current house and I love them. I guess I'm used to them, because I never think twice about handling them. I'm not at the stage of picking for our new old house, but would use egg knobs again in a heartbeat. Also considering unlaquered brass.

I like the old fashioned look of egg knobs, but I am glad we used levers throughout our house. They are so handy when your hands are full; an elbow will do the trick. We have Baldwin 'Edinburgh' levers; they look the same today as they did 10 years ago.

"Un-lacquering"? For an upcharge? Are we kidding?

My childhood home had brass doorknobs. I remember my mother removing them all a couple of times over the years and sending them out to be polished and re-lacqured. I also remember the plater who wanted to charge for 're-plating' the SOLID BRASS knobs.

The only reason there is a charge to unlacquer is that the standard is lacquer. Shiny brass is something I do not want to revisit - ever :). I have always loved the old brass patinaed hardware in older homes and decided that is what I wanted to do because I am not a fan of ORB, and was afraid if I used it that I was coming in at the tail end of a very trendy trend. Unlacquered brass was the obvious choice for us in our new old home - particularly since it is what would have been used in the home if it were built in the 1920s.

Really not many other options - the nickel/pewter stuff is way to contemporary for me and the black is too harsh for me . . . struggled with this decision forever and finally decided to use it. The comment by the hardware guy that the new, luxury homes in Buckhead (a old section of Atlanta)are almost exclusively using it was just reaffirmation that I had made the right decision!

thanks to both of you for your very helpful responses. i'm more sold on the egg now! why did you decide on Emtek instead of Baldwin, athensmomof3?
Tiffany

I am using primarily Baldwin. Only Emtek where I need the crystal egg knob (and that will be in a different area - master bath and closets). I noticed a couple of years ago when going to home tours that a lot of time the hardware switches in the master bath to nickel, even if not used in the rest of the house, to go with the faucets. We have a cased opening from our master bedroom to the hall connecting our master bath to bedroom. Closets are on either side of the hall and will have the satin nickel, as will the doors in the bath.

My only regret is that I really do prefer the smaller rosette which Baldwin Images and Emtek don't offer. I might try to find someone else for the doorknobs that offers the smaller rosette, in unlacquered brass, in our budget :)

We have Emtek in the house we are currently in and had Baldwin in the Georgian home we sold. I feel they are equal in quality. I like the Emtek levers. They are easy to use. But when we rebuild, I will use the egg shaped Baldwin knobs again. They are very comfortable in the hand, easier to turn than the round knobs, and I love the way they look. I'm saving this thread for the de-lacquering info!

Why do you want the smaller roses, athensmomof3? Who makes these and are they just better or more historical looking? thanks!

I think they are more historical looking but also a little more delicate which I like. . . I do like the oval backplate for the egg knobs though! As far as who does this, not really sure. The ones I have looked into are very expensive - much higher than Emtek. I am still looking though!

My vote is for round polished brass. I see that style a lot in the homes we build.

I think egg shaped are very pretty but if it will makes you nuts that they are always not perfectly straight don't get them. We had them in our last house and they made me crazy because they were always a little "off", something to think about. Now we put levers and round knobs and there is nothing to think about.

Chiming in late here, but here's my two cents....

Our home came with simple round knobs. When we remodeled we switched to Baldwin brass oval knobs - just love the feel of the shape in our hands. I work out of my home and I've had numerous clients comment on the feel of the oval knob on our front door as they leave!