GRANITE AND QUARTZ: NEW SLABS AT AG

Late Autumn and the Christmas rush is on at AG! What that means is a lot of stone moving through the place quite fast – in-coming deliveries of granite and quartz slabs, and the workshop and fitters working flat out to get those countertops in before the festive season. As a result we seem to have more new materials to photograph than ever, and we thought we would have a quick round up of a few.

Please note that these are not stock granite and quartz materials – they are bought-in especially for customers on a bespoke basis. Stock materials offer the best value for money, but a narrower range of choice.

Bloom Stone have entered the darker grey market with this striking material, Storm Grey. I saw it for the first time today, and I think it looks pretty good. Compare it with Turbine Grey from Caesarstone if this is the kind of look you are wanting.

The Storm Grey comes in a textured, non-polished finish, which I’ve tried to capture in this oblique shot.

Unmissable, unmistakeable, unforgettable… Skye by Cambria is the boldest, wildest blue – entering the market just when many companies were dropping the big colour quartz materials altogether. I have to say that I love it – great to see the option for bold colour still alive and kicking

Misty Carrara is a newly available marble-look quartz from Gerald Culliford of Kingston. Not for the first time I have found myself saying, “Cullifords don’t deal in rubbish.” I don’t know where the Kingston-based stone importers are sourcing this stuff, but it is beautiful, with a soft, non-polished surface texture which feels lovely to the touch.

Warm, creamy and with incredible detail in the veining, Classic Quartz Calacatta Vegle is a very welcome addition to the massive range of marble-look materials (big vein and mottle) from Classic Quartz.

The concrete look is in, as are materials with soft, non-polished textures. Unistone offers their “velluto” finish on many of their stones, and this lovely, warm quartz is an excellent product to have the matt treatment. We have just completed a large quartz kitchen worktop instalation in it.

Over the last year our relationship with Caesarstone has grown ever closer – and watch this space for exciting developments as we enter 2020! The company offers some superlative, very high-end stones, but the cool, soft tones of Georgian Bluffs come at what is actually a very economical price tag. We look forward to selling a lot more of this lovely quartz worktop material in the New Year.

I think Rosso Luana is my favourite of the natural stones we have seen this year. Awesome patterning in a solid stone worktop!

The trend to non-polished finishes is not confined to man-made stones. Often a leathered or honed finish brings out subtle shades which polishing doesn’t show – although there can be issues with cleaning and maintenance. All the same, I loved this slab of Belvedere granite…