Door Hardware Finish Names: Chinese Factory Terms and Their English Names

Updated 2026-11-08 · RAYEN 雷茵

Why do finish names cause wrong orders?

A Chinese factory, an importer and a showroom often use three names for one colour, and one name for three colours. A buyer writes antique brass on an order, the factory reads it as fang gu tong or huang gu tong, two different finishes, and the parts arrive in the wrong shade. The fix is simple: use the factory's own finish name, in both languages, next to the model.

Below are the English names we use, with the Chinese factory term in pinyin, grouped by what you see.

Stainless steel colours

• Satin stainless (duan mian bu xiu gang): glass door handles, grab bars, floor spring covers, lever handles, bathroom pieces.
• Brushed Stainless (bu xiu gang la si): lever handles, door stoppers, tubular locks.
• Polished Stainless (jing pao guang, or pao guang bu xiu gang): pull handles, push plates, bathroom pieces.
• Satin Sanded (sha guang): stainless steel hinges.

Brushed and satin both mean a fine directional texture. Satin Sanded on hinges is a sanded texture. If the difference matters on your job, compare samples side by side.

Plated and coloured finishes

• Brushed Nickel (nie la si), Brushed Satin Nickel (ya guang nie la si) and Brushed Black Nickel (hei nie la si): lever handles, accessories, hinges.
• Polished Chrome (liang ge): lever handles, door stoppers, hydraulic hinges.
• Zirconium Gold (gao jin): lever handles, push plates, pull handles.
• Antique Yellow Brass (huang gu tong), Antique Bronze (qing gu tong) and Matt Antique Bronze (ya guang qing gu tong): accessories, levers, push plates.
• Antique brass (fang gu tong): glass door handles and stainless pull handles.
• Frosted Copper (mo sha tong) and Gunmetal Grey (qiang hui se): hinges.
• Brushed Gunmetal (qiang hui la si): hydraulic hinges.
• Space Grey (xing kong hui): door stoppers.
• Matt Black (ya hei): almost every range.

Note the near pairs. Antique brass and Antique Yellow Brass are both old-brass tones and are not the same finish. Antique Bronze and Matt Antique Bronze differ in sheen. Write the exact name.

Anodised aluminium finishes

• Anodised Matt Black, Anodised Sand White and Anodised Sand Gold (lv yang hua ya hei, sha bai, sha jin): aluminium lever handles such as AL-114.

These names say how the colour is made. See the aluminium lever guide.

Does a finish name tell you the base metal?

No. The catalogue shows this plainly.

• Antique Yellow Brass appears on zinc alloy 1328, stainless steel D3771, and the aluminium body of RY8005.
• Zirconium Gold appears on zinc alloy 5833-524 and on stainless steel S-01.
• Frosted Copper appears on brass hinges such as 4x3x3.0-0BB and on stainless and brass hinges such as 4x3.5x3.0-4BB.
• Satin stainless is listed on floor springs such as D-1031, whose material is given as 45# steel. The name describes the face you see.

So a finish name and a material are two lines on the order, never one. If the job needs stainless steel underneath, for a wet room or a coastal site, write the material as well as the colour. Our hinge materials guide explains why the base metal matters.

How should you approve a finish?

Swatches on a screen are indicative only. Match against a sample, under the light of the room it is for. Approve one sample per finish, keep it, and refer to it on the order. Ask for each model's own finish list, because a colour offered on one model may not exist on its neighbour.

What to write on the order

Write the model, the material and the finish name in both languages. For example: Lever Handle, AL-114, aluminium alloy, Anodised Matt Black, to approved sample. Add the Chinese term if your supplier works from it. Quantities, price and delivery are confirmed per order. Ask us for finish samples, or see the full range.