White Sparkly Quartz Worktops
In the early days of quartz worktops in the UK, the Black Sparkly (also called Black Mirror or Black Sparkle) quartz worktop ruled the roost. As part of a general trend towards lighter colours across all types and styles of worktops, the Black Sparkle look gradually gave way to White Sparkly quartz worktops as the dominant stone. Here at Affordable Granite, Silestone Blanco Stellar has been a staple for us, a mainstay of our quartz production.
Blanco Stellar Swatch Image
Silestone Blanco Stellar is still hugely popular. It has a strong granular texture which is very helpful in a working kitchen. Grainy quartz worktops are simply easier to live with than smooth ones – and nowhere more so than in the white end of things. We have made quartz worktops from hundreds of slabs of this stuff, with happy customers all over the South East.
Silestone Blanco Stellar: white sparkly quartz worktops in a Horsham, West Sussex, kitchen
Big grain white sparkly quartz worktops – like Blanco Stellar – have certainly not gone the way of the Avocado Bathroom Suite, but we think we see signs of the next big trend in synthetic, contemporary-look white materials.
White sparkly quartz worktop in a Crawley, West Sussex, kitchen
(full case study here)
Obviously the marble look, as we have described over recent years, is also very dominant at the moment. But many people still buy contemporary look kitchens which call for a solid block of colour as a worktop. Super smooth worktops are also a little out of favour due to the cleaning issues… so where does demand now go?
A comparative image of four new white sparkly quartz samples
The answer appears to be that the grain is getting smaller and the sparkle is getting subtler. For some time we have been selling a more subtle option than Silestone Blanco Stellar in the Picasso White Stellar. Gradually we have seen more and more customers interested in the less granular product.
Suddenly we are seeing far more stones coming into this part of the market. The image above shows four of them, and I am sure that more are on their way. You can see here:
- Classic Quartz Ice Branco:Â probably the most sparkly of the four.
- Picasso White Stellar has slightly more grain (though perhaps not quite as much as my picture shows). This is the stone we currently hold in stock.
- BQS White Shimmer has less sparkle than the other two mentioned already.
- Silestone’s new Miami White is the smoothest in texture, with a sparkle that is so occasional and minute it almost looks like a mistake. It is (in my opinion) too subtle. It is the most expensive of these products.
Just how fine-grained are these products? You can see in the image here. Picasso White Stellar has a vastly tighter texture, making it a far more subtle white sparkly quartz than the Silestone favourite. The fact that Silestone are themselves starting to bring out subtler sparkly stones tells me that they are seeing the wind changing globally just as we are in the UK.
It is worth remembering, though, that small samples (and pictures of small samples) are not the best guide to the appearance of a large worktop. If Blanco Stellar seems brash and coarse when looked at up close and personal, check out the actual kitchen images above and elsewhere on this site. Once you fit worktops in these materials and stand back, grain and bling blends into one smooth texture. The grain just helps that bit more to disguise dust and fingermarks.
A sample of Picasso White Stellar on a section of Silestone Blanco Stellar
Ultimately, who wants to be a slave to fashion? We want to stock what sells, but you, the customer, can buy whatever you like, and we are here to help. Whether the coarse-grained sparkle of the Silestone Blanco Stellar is your thing, if you prefer a far finer grain in your white sparkly quartz, or if you are into any other look or style altogether… do get in touch. We try to keep our ears to the ground and detect what is trending, but above all we want to help you to achieve the kitchen that you are really looking for, whether it has a mass-market look or is utterly individual. Contact us anytime by email ( sales@affordablegranite.co.uk/ ) or phone 01293 863992. We look forward to your call!
