When putting together big puzzle of plumbing fixtures for the house during gut remodel, I realized the following thing:

-the moment one deviates into rarer finish(like copper) s/he either pays several hundreds more for a good finish, or is compromising on a worse product

I returned a copper kitchen faucet I bought before we installed it because it was obviously ..just worse-made faucet. I wanted copper so much-yet as I couldn't afford 900$ or whatever they want for a good copper faucet, I sighed and let my DH pick stainles steel Kohler that I didn't hate, just mildly disliked lol. and bought copper knives to illuminate our small kitchen with my favorite metal finish ever.

Chrome and nickel look good at any price point. I suspect part of their popularity (polished nickel is more expensive and often, is not neccessarily in stock-many things surprized me, that was one of them too-had to wait weeks for polished nickel. lol)

So. Will brushed bronze be better? I don't know.

How much do these spots bother you?

Since I'd be, like, "okay..made a mistake..not perfect".

Or I'd save for a copper faucet in a very different price range

Or I'd go with a finish that's less likely to dissappoint me. But you have a copper sink, right? So that'd be harder to swing.

I think that aprilneverends is exactly right.

I get very tired of people on here who say, "Oh - you didn't spend $1000 on a faucet?!? Then it's cheap Chinese crap!"

There are very serviceable faucets with bronze, stainless, chrome and brushed nickel finish in the $125-300 range at big box stores. They aren't going to be fancy, or high design, and they will have plastic parts, but you can do pretty well. Part of the reason for that is because these faucets sell a lot of units.

Copper, brass, and other finishes are going to be a much higher price point for a decent product.

What I think is that you have a "clear coat" over probably a thin copper plate with some dark base that is supposed to look like "tarnish". Real copper oxidizes with a blue-green tint.

I think the clear-coat is gone and you are seeing part of the "copper" finish gone also.

So here's the thing: It looks like you have nice counter-tops. You probably have a decent copper sink. You just need to spend significantly more money on the faucets and probably spend a lot more time on reviews if you are going with copper finish.

Thank you to the both of you. I have learned my lesson. I don't know what is going on with this faucet but I don't dare damage it trying to get these spots off. Luckily, I am able to return and now I am on the hunt for another - BETTER - product.

If you are set on a specialty finish like copper but don't want the associated maintenance, you should look for a PVD finish. Physical Vapor Deposition or Thin Film Deposition is the latest method of finishing faucets that is extremely hard and durable and virtually spot free.

The copper is not actually copper (a reactive metal) but more likely zirconium (a non-reactive metal) applied to look like copper but without any possibility of tarnishing. Usually, a wipe with a damp cloth is all the maintenance needed.

PVD finishes are usually about 20x more scratch and mare resistant than the standard faucet finish, plated chrome.

Offhand I know that Newport Brass offers a PVD copper finish. I'm sure there are others.