I have Emtek throughout my house and have had no problems in the 2 years since we built our house.

We went with Emtek and have been pleased (We've been in our house five months).

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Blog

we also have emtek. purchased egg shaped knobs in ORB. they look great and i love the way they feel in hand. seem to be built nicely too. our architect has the same knobs in his house, installed 8 years ago.

we also bought egg shaped crystal (no facets or cuts) and they are glorious! i really am very happy with our choice.

We have Baldwin "Edinburgh" levers throughout our 10-year-old house. They look exactly as they did when new, including the entry door set. I can't say the same for their reeded finish towel rods in our master bath.

Thanks folks....We had originally chosen Baldwin for all of our door hardware. However, we're having to change out the wrong hardware on our Kolbe hinged and slider doors (long story which I will post about later) and only Emtek makes hinges and handsets compatible with Kolbe. So our builder and his subcontractor are trying to convince us to go with Emtek throughout the house.

My architect uses Emtek a lot. He said it is like Baldwin but with a lower price. The hitch with Emtek is whether you like the finishes. Baldwin, particularly Baldwin Estate, has much more flexibility there.

I looked at both side by side and the Emtek seemed equally well made, good "hand feel", and heavy/solid feeling.

I was curious about the fact that Baldwin is not compatible and googled and came up with this which says that some are compatible in limited styles. Not sure if this meets your needs but here it is:

http://www.gardenstatemillwork.com/products/kolbe.html

Also, someone posted recently about using Emtek hardware on her Windsor windows and having ordered it through Windsor. If I recall correctly, it saved her several thousand dollars this way vs. the way it had been bid out by the contractor originally.

http://www.baldwinbrasshardware.com/misc/multipoint_trim.htm

I believe baldwin will fit Kolbe doors. We have kolbe doors and windows and looked at baldwin, rocky mountain and PE Guerin and all will fit the Kolbe three point locking system. You might want to call Kolbe and/or baldwin.

Thanks athens and lonestar...my significant other is actually in charge of this and asked me to post, so I'm not aware of all the compatible hardware. I'm suspecting our contractor is trying to steer us to Emtek on the basis of price. Good to know we can't go too wrong if we decide to go with Emtek.

On higher-end homes I use only Emtek, Baldwin and Gainsborough.

I used to fit all the interior doors with Gainsborough porcelain knobs and 24K gold-plated rosettes. Whenever I'd mention the plating to prospects, they were invariably surprised. I notice now the rosettes come only "gold coloured". So they're economizing even at a maximum plating thickness of 18 microns (18/1000 of an inch).

worthy-
A minor point, but did you mean mils instead of microns? (Microns are a metric measure, and 18 microns is about 7/10000 of an inch.)

Woops! I meant microns and I don't know how I screwed up the conversion rate. It was only a guess based on what goldplaters say are common plating thicknesses. If I had one of those non-destructive thickness gauges, it'd be a snap. If you've ever turned in a leased vehicle, you've probably seen one in action. (Damn!)

Emtek is mid=grade hardware; Baldwin, while better is at the higher end of mid-grade hardware. There are many other better manufacturers than these, but they aren't as popular as they are more "boutique".

@Andrea, are the better manufacturers as affordable as Emtek and Baldwin? Could you recommend any?

Rocky Mountain is pretty close in some lines.

For the ne plus ultra, consider H. Theophile, which will manufacture your design from scratch. Also, Nanz and E.R. Butler & Co.

I bought Baldwin door handles for my front door and interior garage door about eight years ago. Both handles are falling apart. I talked to my local locksmith and explained my experience. He said Home Depot couldn’t sell the handles because of the high cost. Therefore, they contacted Baldwin and now they make a cheaper worthless product.

My locksmith recommended Emtek so I’m now waiting for my order to be shipped.

Maureen Lawson

Maureen-

The idea that name brand manufacturers provide a second line of crappy products that look look identical to their regular products to sell in big box stores -- whether it's faucets or hardware or whatever -- is an urban myth. No name brand manufacturers are going to do this and damage their reputations. If your Baldwin handles fell apart, they could have been a not very well-made product, they could have been installed sloppily, or they could have gotten abused in use. Whatever it was, it wasn't that you got an inferior, second rate version of an identical item from a big box store. Traditional brick and mortar stores perpetuate this idea to often justify their higher prices for the same item. They may even believe it, but it’s not true.

Whatever you paid the locksmith for your Emtek hardware, you should check out the price online, like at Amazon. Fifteen years ago I added Emtek deadbolts to my outside doors to supplement the standard Emtek key-in-knob handles. I had my choice of spending a certain amount for the dead bolts locally, or half the price online. Guess what I did? And 15 years later they are still in perfect functioning condition.

An interesting read of all the comments some year+ later! We have a victorian and FWIW, a year ago we ultimately went with Baldwin Estate for interior doors (oil rubbed bronze egg knobs on solid doors and levers on french doors), and Classic Brass for exterior doors (unlacquered brass levers on plates). In the case of Baldwin, my contractor did a stellar job installing, but each set contains lots of individual moving parts, so a couple (among some 20 sets) need tightening now. The Classic Brass set us back ($$) but I subscribe to the idea of spending more on house "jewellery" (which you touch every day), aiming for enduring quality, and keeping local craftsmanship skills and forges alive. We went with Emtek (glass and ORB knobs) for wardrobes and RH for cabinet hardware. All have performed very well functionally; I want things to patina over time; the combination of brands created just the look we were after.

Apparently YMMV.

My experience: Emtek levers suck. My understanding is that older Baldwin is great but expensive.

I first went with Emtek, hated it and/or defective, tossed in garbage (no joke), replaced with INOX which is awesome. I loved the hardware shopping experience. So many great options. Very cool to feel, grab, twist. Pre-COVID.

We have Emtek throughout our home - we went with the oval door knobs. That was 15 years ago. Only a couple are showing the oil rubbed bronze rubbing off.

Very old thread, but...our Baldwin Edinbrough polished brass entry and passage door hardware is 20 years old now and looks and operates like new.

Yes, very old thread because one person mentioned Baldwin was more expensive/better than Emtek. Au contraire.

Does anyone have experience with the matte black finish on Baldwin? My Emtek doorknobs in matte black are terrible. The black has worn off within a year. I am replacing now.

Andrea-

In my experience, that type of finish will show wear after a while regardless of manufacturer. Rather than throw out hardware that is presumably in otherwise good shape, you could renew the finish with a can of black spray paint of the right gloss (probably satin), and get years more use. I did this with a few of my Emtek knobs that got the most use and it worked fine. If you try this, it is best to take the hardware off the doors to spray it so you don't have to mask anything and so you don't risk getting any traces of paint on the door where the escutcheon plate sits, even with good masking. If your hardware is like mine, there is a set screw that allows just the knob to be removed, and this is the easiest approach as you can usually get by with not having to spray paint the escutcheon plate. And if you aren't a pro at spray painting, it's not that hard: spray from at least a foot away, keep moving your hand in a smooth, motion, and mist on several light coats, rather than a heavy one, to avoid drips.

Thanks emtek wore out in 3 months at least baldwin has a five year warrantee i will spraypaint them thougj and have as backup

Any other suggestions of hardware finishes that would match black flush pulls?