It is a brushed ghw but it looks really nice! Just got mine today. Passed on the mini and went with this instead because since the gold leather on the mini is a lighter shade, I felt like the bghw was too harsh up against it. But on the WOC, it is perfect. I agree that shiny or champs ghw would have looked stunning on either the WOC or the mini from this season, but the bghw matches the shade of the gold leather on the WOC perfectly so it blends in beautifully to where I think the bag can easily be dressed up or down. Makes it more versatile IMO. I wear a lot of gold fine jewelry and played around with it today, putting it next to some of my pieces and I’m obsessed. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!