Decisions decisions

I'm blocking the sweater fronts now, so button bands will be added soon, probably within the next week or two. Which brings me to a decision I've been putting off for a while - which buttons will I use? I have two choices seen above on the blocking sweater - the upper one is from a set of bone buttons purchased over Christmas break with no intended purpose, I just thought that they were cool. I really like the way it has swirly patterns on it - like the cables. I adore button-band ornamentation, as can be found on 17th-18th century menswear like in this pic, taken from a collection from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Styles like this can also be seen on Centauri men's jackets on Babylon 5, and to a lesser extent on King Theoden's gear in the Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. He aso had gold braided rope-like things around the armbands of a velvet cloakey-jackety thing, which I have also included in my sweater. I wonder why the Elves had no knitwear (even though some designers have been inspired to create some), in fact there was surprisingly little knitwear visible on the Humans, and Hobbits (even though other designers have also been inspired...). In fact, the only possibly knitted garment I saw displaying celtic textures (the happiness sign) was on Gandalf, when he had become the white wizard. He was wearing a white hooded cloak, and there were some textured cables around the hood. But the garment didn't look knitted, so I'll bet it was felted, but retained the texture panels. And why hasn't anyone started a LOTR knit-along yet?

Anyways, back to my decision. The upper one is the bone button, and the lower metal one is from a set of Tudor Rose pewter buttons, actually purchased for this sweater. Which one do I pick? I'm torn! Please delurk, and leave me an opinion!

Now here I am, not even finished the current sweater and I'm planning the next one!
Here's a scan of my sketch:
OK, I know I can't draw, but I try anyways. It will be a raglan shaped cardigan, with a deep v-neck, and deep waist ribbing, made from some DK weight tweed I have in the stash. This design was inspired by Elsebeth Lavold's Fjalar, shown below from an old post.
I had highlighted my issues with this sweater. My solution: eliminate the puckered neck by making it a cardigan with hook and eye closures. And the baggy sleeves by making it a raglan sweater. I also switched cable panels because I will be continuing the cables all the way around, and I won't have to graft at the back of the neck if the panels have up-down and left-right symmetry, so the button bands and collar can be knitted in one piece. I chose a linked-ring motif from the same book, Viking Patterns for Knitting. Now to work out the details... I'm so excited I can't wait to cast on!

Ivanova