I am hoping to pay off my Vigil soon and considering the finish options. The Albion site does not seem to have a page showing the blued, browned and antiqued finshes, and a search here only turned up one or two pictures of Albions with the browned finish. Does anyone own, and/or have pics of an Albion with browned fittings?
Also does anyone know how they do the blued finish? Is it just heat blueing, cold chemical blueing or hot chemical blueing? And lastly, how have these finishes held up for those who have them?
I did see pics of a Vigil with blued fittings and a black grip which was really striking.

here is/was my yeoman with antiqued hilt

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Thanks for the reply, Mike. Your Yeoman turned up in my searches and there are at least a few other antiqued Albions pictured on this site including a Vigil. I am interested specifically in the browned finish like is shown on this Chieftain- http://www.myArmoury.com/talk/viewtopic.php?t...ned+albion

I am a bit disappointed that Albion has not provided any pics or info on these finish options on their site, at least that I have been able to find. they are mentioned in the print catalog I believe but I don't have one on hand, and their online sword store allows you to choose the blued and browned options when you purchase a sword there but there are no pictures, details or further info that I can find.

I asked them today and apparently the browned finish as shown on that Chieftain is not currently availible as a finish option. The blueing is done with using a cold chemical process.

One thing that is nice about the cold-blue finish is that it can easily be touched up with SUPERBLUE, which you can buy at any gun or sporting goods store.

I personally don't recommend the 'antiqued' or 'brown' finish. It is an actual 'aging' process that corrodes the hilt furniture. It literally is 'antiqued' to the point of pitting. If you're looking for that 'just found it in the tomb' look, with a new blade attached, well there you have it. Otherwise, I recommend cold bluing.

Just my .02 cents

Its different. I have not had it done to another sword, but on the whole, I don't find it bothersome. If it ever does get bothersome, I figure I can just spend some quality time polishing everything out. Its mainly just on the surface, its stable, so life goes on.