White Marble-look Quartz Worktops
Warm with a big vein – it’s Rio, by Radianz
Over the last few years, man-made quartz worktops that look like white marble of various kinds have grown ever more popular. We have stocked several products, and have sold many others. A previous blog explains a bit of why these products grew as big as they have.
Classic bespoke joinery and the soft translucency of marble go together – here it’s Classic Quartz Marbre Carrara on Nick Geard Cabinets – full case study here
White marble-look quartz worktops - mottles and veins
White marble-look quartz has been made in various styles. Since some of the earlier contenders like Silestone’s Lyra and Lagoon, a plethora of materials has been released onto the market. The biggest difference in style is between the soft, randomly mottled look, with veins that appear but don’t really go anywhere, and big-vein marbles, with large scale pattern. Broadly speaking, most of the white products available fall into camps as copies of the Carrara (small vein) and of the Calacatta (big vein) marble look.
Mottled stones - the Carrara look
BQS Blanco Massa in a Guildford kitchen
Silestone Lyra – an older design, still popular
Classic Quartz San Vincente in this stunning Sussex homeÂ
Big-vein stones - the Calacatta look
Cambria Brittanicca in a Hampshire barn conversion
Silestone Eternal Calacatta Gold in an Oxted Kitchen
Classic Quartz Statuario M425
White marble-look quartz worktops - the little big vein
Many of the “big vein” white marble-look quartz materials have very bold, even broad veins. One trend we have noted recently is the arrival of fairly well-defined but narrow veins – attractive black lines crossing the surface in more and more realistic ways.
Two of the best of these “little big vein” white marble-look quartz materials are Arenastone Calacatta Delicato and Classic Quartz Alaska Bianca. Both avoid that broad vein look, both come in a good strong white, both have narrow, randomised veins.
Arenastone Calacatta DelicatoÂ
Classic Quartz Alaska Bianca
Arenastone Calacatta Delicato
Classic Quartz Alaska Bianca
The best news of all regarding these two materials is the price. Many large vein quartz marble-look materials have wholesale prices that would make your eyes water. Not so Alaska Bianca and Calacatta Delicato. They will still be more costly than our stock, small-vein/mottled quartz materials like Radianz Lucern Lake and BQS Blanco Massa, but they are vastly more affordable than the high-end Silestones and other leading edge quartzes. It is hardly surprising that both these materials are selling fast!
The one thing we have to watch when pricing these materials is the way that well-defined, long veins affect slab use. By far the best way to install these materials is with the veins flowing, as far as is possible, from section to section, and especially into any upstands and splashbacks. To do this well requires flexible use of material – and flexibility can mean greater waste. So if your kitchen just barely comes out of a single slab, you may be given a choice – an economical fit with painful disjointed veins, or a classy but pricier installation with most of the veins matched up.
THAT kind of choice can throw you back to small vein/ mottled materials. ‘That Lucern Lake DOES look rather nice, now I come to think of it!’
Classic Quartz Alaska Bianca – the same installation, showing vein matching from the worktop into a splashback
We are Affordable Granite, the leading granite and quartz worktops installer in Surrey, Sussex and across the South East. We pride ourselves on bringing together great craftsmanship with real affordability. These long veined stones are a great challenge to our stone masons, who relish getting those veins to join. And thanks to keen pricing from Arenastone and Classic Quartz, they are also economical.
For questions, queries and quotes connected with any aspect of worktop installation or kitchen design, please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01293 863992 or by email on sales@affordablegranite.co.uk/ .
