I live in a 120 yo home with lots of brass hardware. Most of it is aged and darkened, with burnished places. I guess it's really all over the map of light and dark.

Our front door hardware just died. It was not original, and not very good, so we are not attempting to restore it.

This is my forever house and I want a permanent solution. I am looking into the baldwin hamilton or cody with mortise. Originally I thought I'd get the hamilton in aged brass finish, but then I read about how it scratches and looks bad after a couple of years. Now I'm leaning toward the cody in unlacquered brass. That way, over the years, it will darken to blend with the other hardware in my house. Also any scratches will also weather and develop patina and blend in over time. I'm just suspicious of these new-fangled factory "lifetime" finishes I guess. It seems to me that if the finish gets damaged, there is no way to fix it, and it just looks messed up, not aged or weathered. Any opinions?

(cross posted to old house forum)