Paint can cover a multitude of sins (silver voids in lug brazing can be filled with plastic filler before painting, excess silver on tubes, etc.). A chrome plated frame, though, really shows the slightest imperfections. As Kurt says, quality lugwork involves tapering the thickness of the lugs near the ends to prevent stress risers due to hard points in the lug-to-tube transition. Most of the chrome plated Paramounts during the bike boom were brazed by Don Mainland in Racine, WI, because his brazing was so clean and Schwinn was very sensitive to any criticism of the Paramount build quality.
Unpainted polished stainless steel also shows any imperfections, so extra care is taken to the clean up brazed lugs on 953 and CXr frames.
Waterford 953 stainless RS-22:
Dave Wages custom carved lugs on 953 frame. While the fancy flames may not be your cup of tea, the high quality of the work is undeniable:
