I've found both to nowadays be so darn expensive. We're using Shlage.

I would look locally and see if their prices are similar to the internet. Some places will even price match. But I think it is worth paying a little more for customer service especially if you are buying a custom product like Baldwin.

As palimpsest states, locally is starting to catch up price-wise as they do realize that internet shopping is taking its toll. Locally has it advantages as well........

Thanks for your comments and feedback.

I priced the handles at a local place that I bought a Kohler sink at a great price, but used a different sales person and the prices were ok, but not great. I priced a few places online that had better prices, but seeing what other places online that people have found from this site. I'll probably after researching online prices go back and see if they will match.

cpartist, I agree both these brands are more expense, but I feel the quality is better then Schlage. Don't get be wrong that they make a nice product for the money.

These are the 2 different locks that I'm looking at. I like both of them, but the deciding factor is price difference.

Baldwin Lock:

Emtek Lock:

I would go for the Baldwin if the price works in your favor. Clean, simple, modern yet timeless. The Emtek looks somewhat feminine and like it could get outdated quicker so it may not appeal to as wide of an audience.

Here's the schlage I'm planning on using. LOL. Very similar. I agree about Baldwin and Emtek but considering each set in Baldwin and Emtek was about $40-$50 more a set, I'm sticking with the Schlage. I had Emtek in my condo and would have loved to use the same set but in the 6 years since we bought the style we had used, the price has gone up by over $30 per set for the Emtek.

Thats what I'm doing too in the aged bronze. Price, look and quality are there.

I had Emteck hardware in my custom build. Our door sets had glass knobs. We had a hard time keeping them on the stem. They would just come off in your hand. We ended up super gluing them back on. There must have been something defective about the original glue. Having said that, I would steer you to a knob or lever that wasn't glass. I do have to admit, they were beautiful.

If anyone is interested these are the best prices that I found online for both handles so far.

Emtek - http://decorglamour.com/ - $70.77 - Passage lock - was quoted locally $80.00
Baldwin - http://www.build.com/ - $54.25 - Passage Lock - was quoted locally $75.00

I'm looking at a total of 13 door handles(6 passage - 5 privacy and 2 full dummy) so buying online can save me quite a bit of money over buying locally. I haven't checked yet if the local place would price match, but guessing they wouldn't come down that low especially for the Baldwin lock.

If anyone knows of a better price, let me know.

Ended up buying the Baldwin ones from Build.com. They were about $100 cheaper then any other place online that I found. I ordered them on 8/26 and received them on 8/30. Just checked today and the same order on Build.com was $123 more then what I paid.

The build quality is very good and they're solid brass and you can feel the weight in them. Now just need to get hinges.

We're using Emtek. Not cheap.

My Baldwin passage door sets are like new after 15 years. The Schlage sets I used for the back hall are still OK, but not *perfect* like the Baldwins. The Baldwin entry door set still looks perfect, but the deadbolt was never installed correctly. When we had a locksmith fix that this year, Baldwin sent the sixty dollar part out immediately -- no charge.

Also -- I love having *levers* on ALL my doors.

We have found the best prices for Emtek are CC Brass. They give a 20% discount (used to be 35%). The customer service is fair, but the prices are great. And, Emtek makes an awesome, gorgeous product with great styling.

http://ccbrass.com/?page=products&action=view&manufacturerID=106&productID=5112-MSC&linkID=8266&duplicate=0

At a difference of close to $75 or more just for each interior lever sets, I'll stick with Schlage.