IN THE SAME VEIN AS… MARBLE WORKTOPS

THE TREND FOR BIG-VEINED MARBLE-LOOK WORKTOPS

The trend for marble look worktops has been going for a while now, but over the last months we have seen a marked increase in the number of customers looking for really dynamic veining on their work surfaces.

On the Saturdays that we have been open it has felt as if every customer that comes through the door is looking for a striking large veined worktop; either grey veined to go with doors like the Crown Ashton Graphite or warmer to go with stone colours like the Farrow & Ball Skimming Stone or Dove Tail.

eternal-calacatta-gold-a

Silestone Eternal Calacatta Gold – launching worldwide at the end of this month!

LOVE FOR MARBLE WORKTOPS IS PART OF THE TREND TO A NATURAL STONE LOOK

The marble look has become popular alongside the trend to earthy neutrals on cupboard doors. For most people, though, real marble is not a practical option. Marble is much softer than granite and can be prone to etching from acids, even at the level of acidity found in common cooking ingredients. As a result, the natural stone needs constant care and frequent sealing, whereas a man-made alternative like quartz or Dekton only needs normal cleaning.

All the large-veined marble-look engineered stones tend to be at the very top end of each quartz manufacturer’s price range. Creating that natural vein running through the body of the stone is state of the art – absolutely at the leading edge of worktop technology. Unlike anything that has been “printed on”, a full-bodied pattern runs right through the stone, including any drainer grooves, the polished sink cut out and the edge profile.

classic-calacatta-lusso-29975-170314-141523-b

Close up of Classic Calacatta Lusso showing veining

marble-look big vein cambria brittanicca quartz worktops

Close up of large veins in Cambria Brittanicca quartz

For the warmer look, one of our favourites is Calacatta Lusso from Classic Quartz. This material is based on the natural marble Calacatta Oro. Calacatta Lusso is expensive, but is, in our opinion, one of the best in terms of natural appearance. This stone can be bought in book-matched slabs, making it possible to produce splash-backs and down-stands where the pattern flows continuously on two different planes. This worktop has been chosen several times to complement the new Fusion Champagne door from Magnet kitchens; the two certainly work beautifully together.

classic-calacatta-lusso-29975-170314-141423-a

A slab of Classic Calacatta Lusso just arrived in our warehouse

For a greyer vein, one of the most popular here at Affordable Granite has been Brittanicca by Cambria. On occasions where customers have viewed the slabs in our yard they have often commented that it looks more like a work of art to hang on the wall. There is also the Compac Unique Calacatta which is truly striking and will make a really bold statement on any island particularly when accompanied by a matching waterfall down-stand or splash-back.

cambria-brittanicca-115337-a

A kitchen installation in Hampshire featuring Cambria Brittanicca Quartz

Classic Quartz also make Statuario Venato (available book-matched) and Statuario which are, as the names suggest, based on Statuario marble.

We think that Caesarstone make some of the best natural-looking marble-look surfaces and for a slightly broader vein a good one to look at is the Caesarstone Statuario Maximus. In the middle of writing this article, as if on cue, we have just been given a new sample from Unistone: Calacatta Toscane looks exciting, having a really dramatic lightning bolt style vein, bang on trend.

classic-quartz-statuario-170302-123804-a

A slab of Statuario by Classic Quartz in our warehouse

Compac of Spain have been at the technological forefront of quartz marble-copies for many years. Their Unique Calacatta is a stunning, soft white and grey stone with very big veining.

calacatta_cocina-a

Compac’s Unique Calacatta

From the Cosentino Dekton range, Aura is the boldest in terms of veining. Dekton is extremely scratch resistant, heat resistant and stain resistant which makes it a really practical choice. The pattern is not full-bodied, however, being digitally printed on the surface. This means that the pattern will not flow through grooves etc. For the pattern to look as if it is going through the stone, the edges can be mitred, but this process is material-hungry and expensive in labour. Aura is also available in book-matched slabs making it ideal for centre islands with down-stands and wall runs with large splash-backs.

aura-book-match-tablas-reales-a

A set of Dekton Aura bookmatched slabs, showing the continuous veining

At the end of April 2017, on line with this trend, Cosentino are launching their Silestone Eternal range of quartz worktops. We can’t wait to look at the new samples in our showroom, some of which we saw in our recent trip to Cosentino in Spain. Watch this space!

silestone-quartz-eternal-charcoal-soapstone

A preview image from Cosentino of their new Silestone Eternal Charcoal Soapstone –
it just shows that not all large vein quartz is white!

Leave a Reply