Have you actually seen or felt any of the hardware you're considering or just taking your GC's word on it? I had my heart set on the Aubrey pulls so drove 65 miles to a store to put my own hands and eyes on them before I shelled out my hard earned cash, which, btw, I recommend doing with ANY hardware you're considering. I was impressed by the quality of the pulls and knobs RH displays on the little boards. (I was disappointed to not be able to rummage around on the huge wall of hardware like they had years ago.) I bought small samples of the Aubrey in polished nickel and polished chrome, a couple of other pulls DH liked, and a couple of different knobs. They all felt solid, heavy, and very well made. I went on to order samples of a few other pulls from different companies when DH didn't initially like my choice of the Aubrey. Compared to the other pulls, the Aubrey felt completely smooth on the handle part and heavier. Some of the other pulls were rougher and you could feel a seam on the handle from the mold or whatever they use to form them. Even though DH didn't like the style of the pull at first, he liked the quality very much. In the end, I chose three sizes of the Aubrey pulls (no knobs) in polished nickel. Of the 100 pulls I ordered (bought many more than I needed as I wanted the flexibility of changing my mind on sizes and then returned the rest), only one any had sort of little flaw in the nickel. Having read that some people in the past had trouble with the Aubrey screws, I sent a pull with the screws to my cab maker ahead of installation so he could decide if I needed to buy different screws. He said the ones I was sent would work fine on my cabs. He had never used RH hardware before, but was impressed with the quality and appearance after he installed them. It's only been a few months, but I'm having zero problems with the pulls. Well, except maybe my obsessive need to walk around wiping the small finger prints off so that they shine. :-) Look at any pull you're interested in IRL. Touch them. Hold them. Hold them up to your cabs to test the projection and appearance. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: More pics on this thread

This is a really good question. And hard to get answered at a store. I asked at HD, but for door knobs (we're renovating our whole house), and I innocently asked what was the difference between the $14 and the $45 handle. Well, one fellow looked at me like I was a cross between an idiot and the scum of the earth. "You get what you pay for", was his erudite answer. Thankyou- anyhow I was looking for my basement, and I have three bedrooms, a family room, a kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and linen closet down there, and those rooms are rarely used- I didn't need top of the line, if the $14 one was going to be sufficient (It looked nice). Anyhow, I went and bought knobs for the linen/storage closet/bathroom and two bedrooms- I also wanted to make sure it was a line that wouldn't be discontinued soon as we're DIY and I want to pay as we go. They work fine. Anyhow, back to the kitchen- my DH says that when mankind has destroyed the earth, the only thing left will be brass long after all the rest of us have long gone. Don't think you'll still be needing your knobs by then- (but if they're brass- they'll still be fine! :>) If your design is fairly simple, I'd say go for the zinc- I did have a filigree type knob (and I'm going to assume it was zinc) break off a closet door(but it was probably 30+ yr old). I would say that all the knobs/handles in my house (that are in the process of gradually being replaced) are probably zinc- and they are 40+ years old. Now, if I had to choose between two that were close in price, and looked the same, I'd go for the solid brass- but only you know how close you are to your budget. YOu could always order a few extra zinc ones for high traffic locations- ie you could replace the knob under the sink 5 times and still be ahead!)

'Brass' and 'all-brass' faucets can be made of separate individual brass pieces that are then soldered together to make the faucet guts (what is below the pretty trim piece that you see). The pieces can be made thinner and the final faucet thus has less material in it and costs less, especially with overseas assembly these days. Such faucets I have been able to bend in my hands. The casting process that produces a 'cast brass' faucet results in a one-piece assembly for the faucet guts. The casting process can't be controlled to make thin parts, so the final part is thicker, heavier, stronger and more costly. The guts of cast faucets are strong, durable assemblies, and are typically found in higher quality hardware.

We've been in our house 6 years. Our two children & their friends are NOT delicate...with anything! There is not a single scratch, ding, or worn-through area on our knobs (or hinges, but obviously no one handles the hinges so I'd expect that, lol!) So again, I recommend Emtek. I guess I didn't research the metal they are made from, but I had quite a few positive reviews from people I knew as well as our builder so felt comfortable.