Chrome is the finish that never has to be justified to anyone. It matches every other fitting in the room, it does not date, and it is the hardest surface we plate, which is why chrome faucets outlive the bathrooms they are installed in.
Polished is the standard and behaves like a mirror, picking up the tile, the towel and the light. Brushed is the same plating with a directional grain, and it is the one to take in a room with hard water or heavy daily use, because it hides spotting and fingerprints that polished chrome shows immediately.
Underneath both is solid lead free brass, not zinc, which is what stops the finish lifting at the base of the spout after a few years. Spout reach and spout height are listed on every faucet, and free samples are available if you want to see brushed and polished side by side before specifying a whole room.
