NavList:

Thank you for the detailed response, it all makes sense except for this part:

"...polished brass or bronze so that it gleams in the antique store window – skip it. So no sextant worth having aboard is going to match your bronze port lights or antique lamps."

My bronze is not at all shiny or polished, it's corroded green, like the stuff you see in the museum, except for where people touch it with their hands. Looks old!