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Thanks @clubman that largely agrees with what I was told by Mercian (I'm an Argos man but seemed right to get a Mercian painted at Mercian). That frame was lightly pitted and as well as what you say - the silver under-layer, gloss etc. showing up imperfections more clearly, I'm pretty sure they said they could do a thicker layer of enamel - which also helps. I may have mis-remembered. On the other hand Argos seem to have a way of filling that hides the pits, either that or I haven't had a sufficiently pitted one yet to notice :)
Re the matt lacquer, sorry I didn't elaborate fully - I've been tipped off that Argos do a more matt, or less glossy at least, than the high gloss standard version. I can neither confirm nor refute this tip yet, but I will keep you posted. Point taken re it being more porous / less durable. I did not know that was due to porosity!
I know others take abrasives to the gloss finish to knock it back a bit, but I don't fancy that. a) I'm too ocd; and 2) would probably chuff it up.
I'd want the lacquer over the transfers, so fingers crossed an enamel grey, wateslide transfers and a less glossy lacquer will be satisfactory!
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veloham
There may be a slight misconception here. The most important factor which causes blemishes in a paint finish to catch the eye is the level of gloss.
A flam is achieved by putting a tinted lacquer over a silver base coat and, quite often, applying a second coat of lacquer to enhance the gloss further and 'seal' any transfers. So you end up with something very glossy, which will show up any defects (rust pitting, crap in the paint) beautifully!
As a commercial stove enameller I would always try to steer customers away from full gloss finishes, or charge them more to allow for the higher reject rate. What we really liked was hammertone or texture.
Matt lacquer - don't forget 'mattness' is achieved by making the surface of the finish porous, so it will inevitably be hard to clean and less durable.
One possible compromise is to have a semi gloss enamel without lacquer, which can give an attractive ready made 'patina'. Two cautions here: 1. any transfers will not be sealed, 2. 'semi gloss' is not an exact term, you would need to be sure you were not going to get eggshell which would cause similar cleaning problems to matt lacquer. Ask to see a sample.