Hi, Jody!  As far as brass polishing, the clock cleaning chemical
solution is entirely correct [ref. Craig Smith in 150930 MMDigest].
I further polish using German jeweler's rouge, then dip in a
protectorant that will serve as a base for lacquering.  I then spray
lacquer with high quality stuff from Behrens.

If you don't lacquer, the glorious beauty of the brass will jump
out at you.  The lacquer will dull the finish a little unless it is
put on very light.  Then I would re-lacquer every few years or so after
first, repeating the whole initial process.  I have used this process
for years on the finest of antique brasses.

One final note -- if your brass is scratched, you may buff it out,
called "polishing the wolf", using rouge; sometimes a white rouge is
initially used on the entire piece of solid brass only, then one works
his way down to the finest grade -- usually red, but it depends on the
company.

Karl Schroeder
Princeton, Missouri