As Stacy and Clinton say, "different pieces [of clothing, in their case] don't have to match, they have to go." Stainless is a neutral. I see knobs/pulls as "jewelry" that don't need to match your neutrals. If you are worried about ORB with a SS sink, buy a cheap ORB faucet at HD to see if you like the color. (Then return it. Don't intall plumbing fixtures from HD) Or have you considered a dark colored silgranite sink?

I am doing stainless undermount sinks , faucets will be satin nickel and hardware ORB. I had the same question as you- went through kitchen magazines and found examples of it done with similar cabinet and counter choices both ways. You can do the same thing or check out the finished kitchen blog right here on this forum. I figured out that I liked the unmatched faucet /ORB hardware look for my otherwise tone on tone kitchen - the stainless added just a little extra pop of texture and color. Already have stainless range and ovens , so the faucet does coordinate there, as well as with the sink.

They don't and shouldn't match, it's too much in a kitchen. Don't be afraid to experiment, you might be surprised at what combinations work in your eyes.

I did the same as posted above...went to HD and Lowe's, bought cheap hardware, brought it home, taped it to the cabinet doors and tried different combinations. Not only can you try different finishes but you can try different styles.

I then returned everything for a refund. Just don't install them, keep the original wrappers, and be careful not to scratch anything. Once I found the combo I liked, I went online to find the cheapest price.

We went with chrome fixtures and brushed SS hardware. I actually found a $6 pull from Lowe's that I liked better than the $25 pull I was going to buy online and saved myself quite a bit of money!

Another thing I noticed...depending on how much metal is in your kitchen (backsplash, appliances, lighting, etc) you may find the hardware needs to co-exist with everything but your plumbing fixtures.

We are completing our new build house, will have walnut stained cabinets, ORB lighting fixtures, black finish hardware, Tropical Brown granite (pretty dark), SS appliances and sink, and ORB faucet. I had the same questions you did and we considered a silgranite sink, but it was just too dark in our dark granite, the SS sink is a nice accent to the counters. And I think the ORB faucet compliments the tones/colors/mood of our kitchen than another finish would. And the good thing is the faucet is relatively cheap compared to all those other features of our kitchen, so we can always change it out down the road if we want. We did see almost the identical kitchen in a model home and liked it all together.

In a word, no.

My hardware is pewter. I don't even know if they make pewter faucets. My faucet is brushed stainless.