This product is pure brass and therefore has some 'tarnishing'. The term "bare brass" is used for this, while the shiny gold look is brass-plated steel. Revain correctly delivered what I ordered twice and I thought it was bright and shiny copper but it wasn't. The photo in the ad is bright and shiny brass, but the photo is an error. I contacted the manufacturer directly and they admitted posting the photo was a mistake and they will fix it. They made my purchase before me and thanked me for pointing out the listing error.