We bought a new construction house in 2008 that has all Newport Brass fixtures and decorations. - 5 bathrooms, a three sink kitchen, and 2 wet bars. And I mean it is all Newport Brass - sink handles and faucets, towel bars, toilet bowl handles, etc. And here is what has broken, starting in less than one year: bathroom tub diverter handle, kitchen sink mixer cartridge, shower head, bathroom sink faucet connector, another shower head, shower temperature mixer valve, and another bathroom sink faucet connector! The parts are insanely expensive to replace, it is difficult to make sure that you have the correct model, and even harder to make sure you have the correct finish. The most frustrating thing (and why I am writing this up) is because one of the broken bathroom faucets is now discountinued, and I am stuck with the a bathroom that has a dozen plus Newport Brass installations that I will not be able to match. Ever! The "help" that I have received from Customer Service is a joke. They cant help identify part numbers or finishes, and dont seem particularly interested in the fact that there stuff keeps breaking. I have taken to proactively switching out parts, especially shower heads, with stuff on Amazon and which I feel is better quality and much, much cheaper. Do not dare install this overpriced garbage in your house!

Good god, people love to dump on someone and belittle their concerns, rather than contributing anything that might be useful. Read a bit about environmental toxins, and you might change your mind. Otherwise, put a sock in it. I am also concerned with reducing my exposure to environmental toxins. People live longer, yes, but they also are getting diseases linked to chemical exposure with more frequency as well. Also, there is NO SAFE LEVEL of lead, period. Lead is a neurotoxin, and particularly for people with growing brains (eg. children) this is an extremely valid and serious concern. Why do you think the government keeps lowering the allowable amount of lead? Have you read anything about the link between lead and lowered cognitive ability, or aggressive and antisocial behavior? You can keep burying your head in the sand, but those of us who care will not. And your patronizing condescension won't make an iota of difference. You can thank us later when you've been drinking from your faucets that have vastly less lead than they used to have (though I'm going for faucets that are 100% lead free).

live wire oak- Like happyafwife, in our area, ORB hasn't faded. It is used more often than not in new construction in the most upscale neighborhoods. That is why we felt 'safe' using it. I love the look of stained woodwork, too. But my old woodwork wasn't stained - it was a medium brown painted/glazed finish from the mid-1960's. After ~45 years and three owners, it looked terrible and needed to have something done. To strip and stain it all would have been cost prohibitive. So we opted to paint everything (cabinets, doors, baseboards, etc)a soft white. It makes the house look so much lighter and larger - I can't believe that too many potential buyers will be turned off by it.

I don't have their kitchen faucet, so can't comment on that. But I do have two Newport Brass bathroom faucets. I love them. Very well-made, high quality. My plumber pointed out to me that there is no plastic on the Newport Brass bathroom faucets. Typically bathroom faucets these days have that long thingy underneath the drain stopper in plastic (I guess no one can see it, so it's an easy way for the manufacturer to save money). Newport Brass bathroom faucet is every inch metal. The only downside to Newport Brass is that they often have long lead times. I have heard 3 months is common if you are buying a less common finish--the upside of that is that it shows that they are not a mass production manufacturer, and give attention to manufacturing each fixture. I bought my Newport Brass bathroom faucets at Homeclick.com, which had the best price. They came in 10 days, but that's cause I chose their most popular model, so it was in stock.