A finish is chosen from a physical sample on the metal you are considering, never from a screen. These are the families we work in.
Family
Polished
Mirror
Stainless steel, brass, copper, bronze
Interior
Fully reflective. Unforgiving of any imperfection beneath it, which is why it is built up in stages rather than applied.
Care and things to consider
Care
A soft dry cloth for dust and a damp one for marks — never anything abrasive, which scratches a mirror surface permanently. On brass or bronze it is either lacquered, and then simply wiped, or left bare and polished regularly; decide which at the outset.
Consider
Shows every fingerprint and every scratch, so it belongs where it will be looked at and not handled. On brass, copper or bronze it only stays mirror-bright behind a lacquer or with upkeep. Not for floors, counters, or anything at hand height in a busy space.
Hairline
Stainless steel, brass, aluminium
Interior and exterior
A fine unidirectional grain. The everyday luxury finish — quiet, consistent, and forgiving in high-traffic areas.
Care and things to consider
Care
Wipe along the grain, never across it, with a mild detergent and a soft cloth. Cleaning across the grain is what turns a hairline finish into a scratched one.
Consider
A scratch across the grain is visible from a distance. Repairs are re-grained over a whole panel rather than a spot, so panel sizes are decided with replacement in mind. Brass hairline left unlacquered will tone down over time — which is usually the point, but should be chosen knowingly.
Brushed & satin
All metals
Interior and exterior
Softer and more open than hairline, with a matt reflection that sits comfortably beside stone and timber.
Care and things to consider
Care
Along the grain, mild detergent, soft cloth. The softer, more open grain forgives handling and is the easiest polished finish to keep looking right in a busy space.
Consider
Small repairs blend better than on hairline but a damaged area is still re-brushed across the whole face. Exterior brass and copper darken with weather; stainless steel and aluminium hold their tone.
Vibration
Stainless steel, brass
Interior and exterior
A non-directional swirled grain that scatters light. Hides handling better than any other polished finish.
Care and things to consider
Care
Wipe in any direction — there is no grain to respect, which is why it hides scuffs better than any other polished surface. Mild detergent only.
Consider
Hard to carry cleanly around a tight curve, so it suits flat and gently formed panels. Reads as softer and more industrial than hairline; not every brief wants that. Cannot be repaired invisibly in one spot.
Family
Textured
Hammered
Brass, copper, bronze
Interior and exterior
A worked surface of controlled dents that breaks reflection into hundreds of small highlights.
Care and things to consider
Care
A soft brush lifts dust from the dents; a damp cloth for marks. No abrasives, which flatten the highlights that make the finish.
Consider
The dents hold dust and, outside, water. Needs heavier material than a flat finish, so the panel is heavier and the edge detail is designed around that. Does not sit flush against glass or stone without a planned reveal.
Hand-beaten
Brass, copper
Interior and exterior
Formed entirely by hand. Every panel is slightly different, and that is the reason to choose it.
Care and things to consider
Care
As for hammered: a soft brush, a damp cloth, nothing abrasive. Bare brass and copper will darken into the recesses first, which deepens the effect.
Consider
No two panels are the same, and that is the reason to choose it — a sample approves a character and a range, not a match. Slower to make than any machine finish. Not a finish for a brief that wants uniformity.
Embossed
Brass, copper, stainless steel
Interior and exterior
Raised pattern pressed into the sheet, from geometric repeats to bespoke ornamental artwork.
Care and things to consider
Care
Dust settles in the recesses; a soft brush clears it. Damp cloth for marks. Do not pressure-wash embossed brass or copper outside — it drives water into the pattern.
Consider
The pattern repeats at the size of the tool, so a very large field shows the repeat. Depth is limited by the sheet: a deep relief needs thicker material or casting instead. Recesses catch grime in kitchens and outdoors.
Etched
Stainless steel, brass
Interior and exterior
Design bitten into the surface, producing fine detail and artwork that cannot be achieved mechanically.
Care and things to consider
Care
Mild detergent and a soft cloth. An etched surface is shallow, so avoid anything that would polish the surrounding metal down to it.
Consider
Shallow by nature, so it wears where hands and feet pass — a wall or a panel, not a counter or a step. Fine artwork needs a mask and a proof before the metal is bitten; there is no adjusting it afterwards.
Special texture
Brass, copper, stainless steel, mild steel
Interior
Surfaces worked or grown to a tactile grain — crystalline, mottled, stony, or crazed like old glaze — that catches side light and changes as the light moves. Each texture is developed on the metal it will be used on and kept as a reference sample.
Care and things to consider
Care
Dust with a soft brush and wipe; a deep grain holds what a flat surface would shed.
Consider
Deep textures collect dirt and grease, so they belong away from kitchens, counters and the outdoors. Where the surface will be touched, choose a shallower grain.
Special effects
Brass, copper, stainless steel
Interior
Brushed swirls, directional grains and figured patterns worked into the sheet by hand and by machine — a finish that appears to move as you walk past it, because the grain catches light from one direction and not another.
Care and things to consider
Care
Wipe along the grain, never across it, with a soft cloth. Fingerprints show on brass and copper unless the surface is lacquered.
Consider
The pattern is set by the sheet, so the layout of panels is decided with the pattern — a swirl cut through by a joint reads as a mistake. Best on surfaces seen whole.
Family
Cast
Cast & relief
Brass, bronze, aluminium
Interior and exterior
Deep three-dimensional panels and medallions cast from a pattern, then hand-finished.
Care and things to consider
Care
A soft brush for the relief, a damp cloth for the face. Bronze outdoors likes an occasional wax, which slows the weathering without stopping it.
Consider
A pattern has to be made before anything is cast, so a one-off medallion carries the cost of its tooling. Cast panels are heavy, and their fixings are designed accordingly. Lead times are longer than any fabricated finish.
Family
Patinated
Antique
Brass, copper, bronze
Interior
Chemically aged and then selectively relieved, so highlights and recesses read differently — antique brass, oxidised bronze, darkened copper — with the character of a piece that has already had a life.
Care and things to consider
Care
Dust only, or a barely damp cloth. Never polish — polishing removes the antiquing from the highlights and the finish is gone. A light wax once a year holds it.
Consider
A living finish: it will keep ageing, and the places people touch will develop their own highlights. A piece made later cannot be matched exactly to one made earlier. Outdoors the relieved highlights weather unevenly, so it is kept inside.
Patina
Copper, brass, bronze, zinc
Interior and exterior
Green, deep blue, algae, deep red, burnished, rustic, deep white and a range of blacks — colour grown in the metal, not painted on.
Care and things to consider
Care
Nothing abrasive, ever. Dust, a damp cloth if needed, and a wax where the surface is handled. Outdoors, let it weather: a patina is a surface that is meant to keep developing.
Consider
A living finish. The colour is grown in the metal and will continue to change, more where rain runs and hands touch. A sample approves a range, not a single colour. It cannot be repaired invisibly, and it is only available on the metals that patinate — copper, brass, bronze and zinc, not stainless steel or aluminium.
Distressed
Brass, copper, mild steel
Interior
A surface deliberately aged — mottled, darkened and worn back in places — so that new metal reads as if it has been in the building for decades. The effect is developed on a sample and then reproduced across the batch, so the panels belong together without being identical.
Care and things to consider
Care
Wax or a clear coat holds the effect; dust it, and wipe with a damp cloth. Nothing abrasive, and no polish — polish removes the very thing that was made.
Consider
No two panels are the same, which is the point. Agree the range on two or three samples rather than a single swatch, so the batch is judged against what was meant.
Smoky effect
Brass, copper, bronze
Interior
Soft clouds of dark tone drifting across a warm ground. It is grown by heat and chemistry rather than painted, so it sits in the metal rather than on it, and the drift is different on every sheet.
Care and things to consider
Care
Lacquered, it is simply wiped. Left bare it goes on developing, and softens where hands touch it — choose which you want at the outset.
Consider
Suits panels, cladding and furniture seen as a whole. On a small part the cloud can read as a mark rather than a finish; look at the sample from the distance the piece will be seen.
Family
Coated
PVD & coatings
Stainless steel, aluminium, mild steel
Interior and exterior
Brass, gold, champagne, rose gold, copper, bronze, gun metal, black nickel and antique brass tones, plus oxidised and custom colour coatings — the way to put a warm metal’s colour on stainless steel, aluminium or mild steel.
Care and things to consider
Care
Mild soap and water, soft cloth, nothing abrasive and no strong cleaners — the colour is a thin layer and is kept by not attacking it. Coated mild steel outdoors is checked yearly at the edges and fixings.
Consider
A scratch through a PVD or coated surface is through the colour, and it cannot be touched up invisibly — the panel is refinished or replaced. Coating colour is matched to a sample within a range, not to a printed swatch. On mild steel, every cut edge and fixing hole is sealed or it is where the rust starts.
Ombre
Stainless steel, brass, aluminium
Interior
One tone fading into another across a panel — brass into bronze, gold into gun metal, warm into dark — graded by hand so that the transition has no step. Used where a wall or a piece of furniture should shift in colour as the eye travels across it.
Care and things to consider
Care
Wipe with a soft damp cloth. The gradient is sealed under the coating and does not need feeding.
Consider
A gradient that runs across several panels is set out as one drawing and graded as one batch, so that it continues across the joints. Panels added later will not match.
Samples
Ask for a sample before you decide.
Tell us the metal, the finish family and where the piece will live. We prepare a sample on the actual metal so the decision is made against the light and in the hand.
