Denim / Levis Button Restoration

[FSJNate]

Hello. I'm working on restoring the denim interior for my 79 Golden Eagle Cherokee and have a question about the Denim seat buttons. I have the 79 style buttons that do not say Levis Strauss. I've begun to clean them and remove the corrosion in preparation to have them installed on recovered seats using NOS tan fabric.

My question is, how clean / polished copper color were these when new? Did anyone on here get to see them new back in the 70's? Did they come from the factory with some oxidation or did they shine like a new penny?

I've seen restoration photos using them both polished and untouched, being a dark oxidized brown, but I was curious how they came new.

[jpcoutts]

My recollection is they were bronze colored and not shiny. Even with some very dark areas around the lettering.

[lycanthrope]

New ones are now available at BJsoffroad, both styles. I am looking forward to using them.

[polarfire]

All the pictures from the factory literature show them as dark brown, not shiny.

[nograin]

I have a buddy that does metal fabrication. He's got a fairly wide selection of ways to chemically finish both steel and copper based alloys. Its possible to put a nice copper finish onto steel then darken it.