Answer: Firesets made of plated brass almost always tarnish and deteriorate to a point where they simply must be replaced. Solid brass will also tarnish over long periods of time. However, the huge difference between various levels of quality have more to do with 2 things. 1) The quality of the original material and 2) the quality of the protective coating applied to it.

Just because an item is Solid Brass does not mean that it will not tarnish as quickly as plated brass. What is most important is that the brass that is used is as pure as possible and the lacquer coating applied to it is durable and heat resistant. If the brass is of poor quality, tarnishing can occur even beneath the lacquer coating regardless of the quality of the lacquer. If the brass is of good quality and the lacquer is poor, then the lacquer will wear off and tarnishing will occur.

Once tarnishing occurs, if the item is brass plated, nothing can be done to polish it back to the original condition. If the item is solid brass, you cannot polish it yourself because you must remove the lacquer coating to do this and then re-apply the coating to protect the finish.

With all this said, I can tell you that this particular fireset, and all others manufactured by Portland Willamette have the highest quality solid brass available that is protected by the most durable heat resistant lacquer in the industry. The quality is so far superior that I have seen sets like this that are 30 years old that still look new. Even more, if in fact the finish does eventually start to wear off, the tool set is designed in such a manner that it can be disassembled at the factory and refinished for a nominal cost.

The solid brass fireplace tools made by Portland Willamette are amongst the best you can buy in the USA (and they are in fact made in the USA). Almost all other brands of fireplace accessories are made in China from very impure raw materials...which accounts for their lower price.