Many upholstered items come with 'brass' casters on the legs, and they are not 100 % sold brass. The housing is usually cheap Chinese pot metal that holds the wheel, and can crack and break as the piece ages. While they look like brass, they are not. A couple times a year folks reach out to me because their casters have broken and they are looking for replacements. Often you can't get a replacement from the maker of the piece as designs and sizes can change over time - the end result is no spare parts are available.

One of our forum members who has a H&M Tavern Sofa on order in a high grade leather saw me mention this in a prior post and wanted to know if there was a solid brass option. Yes there is, and of course four solid brass casters are going to run about $ 200 vs the pot metal ones that I imagine are worth about $ 16. However, we tracked down the right size for this sofa and I suggested using Horton Brass out of Connecticut. USA-Made, its done right and will never fatigue or break. H&M is not charging extra to install these, but she did have to purchase them from Horton direct and do the leg work to have them shipped to Hancock and Moore for her build.

http://www.horton-brasses.com/CA-4-1-00.asp

I will be most curious to see how this turns out, because this is how I would do it myself if I were buying a caster-equipped sofa or chair. It's an easy component tweak and the Horton wheels - especially in the brighter finishes - will look like a million bucks.