I like like trying to recreate the way things originally look, and in this case I think I'd clean up those surfaces enough to paint them with some shade of gold, bronze, or copper paint. Once you clean the old finish away, you might like the bakelite ( especially considering the way turns out whenever you give it that special touch! ) so leaving it that way is always a simple option in case the paint looks like hell. Of course, that's why I'd try the paint on a smaller section first before I committed to masking off the whole deal. With a project like this, you're certainly entitled to take as much creative license as you want.
