I saw a Brizo Pascal. It seemed all plastic. The plastic seemed not to be the higher grade they call resin that I have seen in some Grohe and equivalent grade faucets, in certain parts, not in the whole faucet. The whole Pascal faucet reminded me of an infant's toy baseball bat, chrome plated. It looked thick (wide diameter across, everywhere). It was thick, almost obscene. I think it was made thicker than the average faucet in order to be a little stronger, to compensate for the cheap plastic. The chrome plating on the surface did not seem to have any nice color or shade or quality. It seemed to be a thin layer of chrome. I wonder what would happen if someone swung a knife blade at it: would it show a ding mark, easily, just from a knife being dropped? I was totally underwhelmed. Or worse. It made me want to rush out and buy a KWC since they are all so solid, every one of them. The handsfree feature was not connected so I couldn't test how it operates. Hope this helps.

If you think the California Faucet's matte white finish would be an improvement over the current bonnet cap and possibly blend, then I wouldn't hesitate to contact them and ask what it would cost to have them repaint one of the replacement bonnet cap pieces you received with their matte white. I'm not sure how they operate: if they do one-offs with their coatings or if you would need to wait for a production run of other matte white pieces. For example, with my kitchen renovation, I ordered some Belfer recessed light fixtures, and the manufacturing system involved powder coating per piece. Normally the turnaround time would have been a few weeks for that, as they sent pieces to the powder coating contractor only as they were ordered by customers, but the powder coating schedule had been slowed down by pandemic restrictions, so it took about 4 months for me to get them. That's why I mentioned sending one of the replacement bonnet caps you have so you can still use the faucet in case it takes a while for the coating. Brizo doesn't actually use powder coating to apply its finishes. Its process is more robust, but I wouldn't be surprised if California Finishes has a process that is less technical being a smaller company and with some of the finish flaking problems I have read about with them. The bonnet cap is likely to be more protected than other parts of the faucet, however, so as long as the plumber can get it replaced without damaging anything else, it might be worth a try to see what California Faucets could do for you. Another thing to keep in mind is that you've only had this faucet for a few months, and I've read so many reviews about Delta's and Brizo's touch technology faucets failing after a relatively short time that I might be hesitant to drop money into a custom paint of the bonnet cap. A popular product on some of the older Houzz posts, especially way back when people were posting under the website GardenWeb before it merged, was a third-party foot lever that turned a faucet on and off. People back then loved this! While I think products like that still exist, they have been largely made obsolete by built-in touch technologies. Just be aware that the faucet may not last as long as it would otherwise without the smart touch feature. Yes, Delta/Brizo will probably send a replacement part to fix it if it malfunctions, just as has already been mentioned in this thread, but at some point you may want to evaluate whether you would like to continue paying a plumber to repair a faucet on which you may or may not have been able to resolve the color discrepancy. My Brizo faucets have regular handles without touch features, a decision I made after reading touch technology reviews, and I have become adept at operating them with a thumb or pinky finger in order to minimize contact with wet hands. I also use a sponge to wipe down any water that gets around and on the faucets after each kitchen session. There may be no going backward for someone who has used and likes touch technology, but if you do need to make another kitchen faucet decision in the future, you may want to do more searching at that time to see whether the longevity of touch technology products has improved. Looking again at Jason Wu for Brizo products online, it seems to me that you can almost see that darker finish on the bonnet cap in the promo photos. I don't know if that's just shadow or if it is a paint defect in the prototypes. Whatever the case, it's a terminal aesthetic flaw in the faucet. I'm sure plenty of people have called in about this problem before. It is frustrating that Brizo hasn't taken steps to fix it since it's just that one piece on the faucet, apparently. I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. If you do find a solution, you might want to start a new post for "Jason Wu faucet color defect" here at Houzz with some photos to make it easier for other people with the same problem to find out what to do.

My attention was drawn back to this thread by someone who liked an earlier post here, and I wanted to update to say that I did move forward with a Brizo articulating faucet purchase in the end and received excellent pricing during a sale at Quality Bath online. The issue with the articulating faucets falling forward has been fixed, so unless you were to order really old stock from a warehouse somewhere, all the new faucets for the last few years feature the fixed joints, and of course, Brizo faucets come with Delta's lifetime warranty. I ordered two of the Brizo faucets in the Brilliance Stainless finish which is PVD stainless steel and among the most durable of finishes available for faucets on the market today. Anything with "Brilliance" in front of the name from Brizo means that it is PVD. Note that Brizo's chrome faucets are merely electroplated, so you'd need to choose a finish that specifies "Brilliance" to get the PVD finish. The articulating faucets from Brizo that feature covered hoses, which is the style I purchased, are all newer releases and so would have the fixed joints no matter where you ordered them. Quality Bath does not stock Brizo in house, so any order you placed from them would come directly from the factory. I'm really happy with this choice and look forward to many years of longevity from the Brizo articulating faucets.

"the handle is extremely stiff making the water temperature impossible to regulate." Perhaps your water heater's temperature is set too high. New water heaters are set to 120 degrees. If the hot water temperature were lower, the faucet would be less sensitive. My sister's hot water is set really high and it takes me 10 minutes to adjust the shower temperature; a micrometer movement of the shower valve causes the water temperature to go from freezing to scalding.