Have not talked to my friend yet, but came around to shoot some more pictures.

The brushed one in different light conditions:







Brushed vs. silk-smooth: (not very good to see in the pictures, but an imagination...)





And the welding spots on the clear anodizing:



I think, the brush-effect should be a little stronger, we'll try with the next run.
Welding seems to be out of the race, they have only these materials.
But perhaps filling bigger holes with just the heads of little allen bolts could look really nice.

cheers,
Thomas