I wondered about the ORB, and other finishes, and noticed that Kohler doesn't seem to warrant the color to last:

"Kohler Co. also warrants all other aspects of the faucet or accessories...except gold, non-PVD Vibrant, non-chrome finishes to be free of defects in material and workmanship...."

I would check the warranties of companies which you are considering.

Good luck.

Bumping, hoping for more input. I am hoping to get some leads on brands.

Thank you, athomesewing.

Bumping again. Sorry. I was sure I had seen this topic covered in the past, yet a search did not turn it up. I tried a variety of search terms, but maybe still had the wrong ones.

I have an ORB finished faucet in our kitchen. It was very important to me that the finish not wear off easily. The faucet I have is made by Newport Brass and the finish is covered under a warranty. That being said, Newport Brass in not cheap but is very good quality. We have had our faucet for four years and I have no complaints. The best price I found was through irawoods.com website.
Good luck in your quest.

linnea-

I don't have a recommendation in the positive, but I can tell you that the 'oil rubbed bronze' finish on our Kingston Brass kitchen faucet made it maybe 6 months? It was a cheap faucet for sure and we just needed something for the apartment but it's junk. It started dripping shortly after. I should replace it but I'm in the midst of building a house and the thought of buying a faucet not for the house makes my heart sad.

Unfortunately a lot of lower quality or no-name faucets (like at Overstock) are made by Kingston Brass, check the model number [via google] and it usually shows up as one of theirs. I wish they were better, but they are sadly not, at least not ours.

We bought a Moen Lindley (new off eBay, super cheap) for the new house in bronze but haven't installed it so I can't vouch for the finish. For Moen it states that the finish is warrantied from any default in manufacturing which I'm pretty sure blistering or peeling would fall under. I would look at Danze, Price Pfister, Moen and American Standard, because those were all in my price range (same as yours).

When you say Gooseneck do you mean something like this American Standard one?

Or more like the Amherst from Price Pfister (All swoopy)

Or like the Delta Victorian (Shepherd's crook like)

Thanks!

It's almost as useful to have a recommendation AGAINST a particular manufacturer. I know I saw those Kingston Brass faucets, and they had some nice styles. I was thinking the price was too good to be true, though.

I'm about 90% sure the offending leaky blistered faucet we currently have in the kitchen is a Price Pfister. I recall a two word name and the letter P. I bought it at Expo Design center when those were still open. I wouldn't swear to it in a court of law, but will avoid that brand anyway just to be sure. It was about $250 and my husband questioned the purchase, as no faucet we'd ever bought had been even close to that price.

I'm not too picky about the design of the neck, actually, when I think about it. The kitchen is (sort of) mission so whatever doesn't look too Victorian or fussy will work. The limiting factor is the holes that are already drilled in the granite: 3: which is center hole for the faucet, plus a hole either side for a separate side spray and soap dispenser. I see some styles with a single lever, not mounted on the faucet, but separately. I suppose I can give up my soap dispenser if I need to, but I'd rather not.

I'm surprised too to see how many faucets have that wide escutcheon thingie at the base. I thought those were phased out long ago. I don't know what they are for, but cleaning around it on our old pre-renovation faucet was a pain. It seemed like water was always splashing back there and puddling. With the faucet mounted right to the granite, it seems like there is no water trap anymore.

Often the cover plates are optional and are used to cover extra holes from previous faucets. It provides some flexibility for those moving from 4 holes to 3 or whatever.

Jado is usually much more expensive than this...

I think a few people on here have the Moen Camarist and are happy with it, but I don't remember seeing any bronze ones specifically.