As one who is not and never will be a gunsmith; and also as someone who's personal appeal is only towards the better makes of American guns (not disparaging English and European, just not my area of interest), I judge Damascus barrels by what my eyes tell me. Several years ago at the Southern Side x Side, a dealer had on display an O Grade Damascus barreled LC Smith that had survived in what appeared to be new condition. The gun was displayed near the outside wall of the tent and the barrels were so stunning they caught my attention from the center isle. The finish was black and white and the figure/pattern in those barrels jumped out at the viewer in amazingly wonderful detail. It was at that point I understood why a customer purchasing what would be considered a maker's "budget priced" gun would pay an additional $5-10 for a set of Damascus barrels; those barrels were absolutely beautiful, and it was the beauty of those barrels that called out "buy me" to the customer. According to "my eyes" I haven't seen a set of refurbed Damascus barrels finished/browned in the brown and white format that came remotely close to the look of that barrel set, nor have I seen a set of black and white finish refurbed barrels approaching the manner in which the pattern was revealed to the extent seen on the tubes on this Smith. Most refurbed Damascus barrels are finished to varying shades of brown; and some even have a coppery color closer to the shade of a penny, but neither high-light the iron/steel contrasts intended to be seen within the intricate Damascus patterns (and those with the coppery appearance look totally out of place to the rest of the gun finishes; and the appearance of many are hideous in my opinion). In most examples I've seen the refurbed brown and white modern finishes seem to have a good tone in that the color looks appropriate to the balance of the gun, but one has to look very close see and appreciate the Damascus pattern itself. I know my opinions are virtually worthless to all the "I've forgotten more than you'll ever know" kind of gunsmiths who dominate this forum; but why would a purchaser pay big bucks for a high-dollar set of intricately figured Damascus barrels unless he could actually see and appreciate the pattern? I understand that barrel finishes are prone to darken, or fade, and wear after a hundred plus years of being exposed to who know what, but I'm not convinced anyone today has discovered the correct formula or process necessary to duplicate what it was these old timers used to reveal and high-light the amazing Damascus patterns from decades ago.