Hey PHmade
I just went through a similair process 4 months ago. I will share with you my experience.
First off a polyester finish AKA a true piano finish, will cost the most out of all the options and is considered a hand rubbed finish and thus extremly labour intensive READ: Expensive.
Second the HG Lacquer finish your after is an off the gun finish. These finishes are also quite labour intensive. The greatest chanllenge here is the perfection of the prep work. Between every coat the surface has to be good enough to hang up as a finished product. There is a local shop that tries to do HG lacquer and they are a perfect example of what can go wrong. Unlevel, imperfections, fisheyes, really its enough to make you double think the finish choice. I talked directly to the technical support at CHEMCRAFT and he said only about 3 percent of shops can do a true off the gun HG finish. Most guys won't even try due to the failure rate of doors. There is also the problem of scratching during and after install. These laquer doors are very difficult to match up if sprayed in seperate batches.
This brings me to my final point and what I offered my client ( a home builder who does about 15 highend homes a year all with extremely contempary kitchens) there are 3 options that will offer a HG finish.
1) Vinyl / RTF / Polymer / Laminate. What ever you want to call it. Its a low end option but an option all the same.
2)Parapan / Acrylic. Comes in 18mm and 4mm. Solid color HG finish scratches can be buffed out and returned to new. True highend option cost about $70 sq ft. Can also have them mill in drawer and door pulls. For a true clean look.
3) Tempered back painted glass. Another Highend option out of Italy. Easy to clean and scratch resistant.
Just my opinion on what's becoming a new trend in my area.
