SURREY QUARTZ WORKTOPS: COMPARING MATERIALS

As one of the leading stone suppliers in Surrey, quartz worktops are a big part of our business. New worktops are a major investment for any household, and homeowners are anxious to get the choice of material just right. Most of us search on the internet, and perhaps visit a few kitchen showrooms. But how to compare the stones that we see on the internet? There are a vast number on the market – how can I look at them together?

All of the quartz manufacturers have images online, of course. But there is no way to be sure that what you are seeing on different sites really is comparable. What light was the photo taken under? What distance is the camera from the quartz surface? How can I compare? It was because of these difficulties that we developed a house style of photographing samples together so that customers can make a meaningful comparison.

One of our very first comparative quartz images, from 2012. This photo shows a number of white sparkly stones, some of which are still huge in the market six years later. Certainly, Silestone Blanco Stellar has been a big part of our business over these years.

Another early example – sometimes we shoot several stones from the same manufacturer so as to show the range of quartz worktops they offer. Here are the unique sparkly Mistico series from Arenastone. 

In general our comparative images involve relatively small samples. The 100 mm square is standard. Grouping a bunch together under even lighting, correcting the white balance for any colour cast there may be – it has become standard for us. It is just a matter of labelling in Photoshop, reducing for web publication or email and we are there.

Sometimes a manufacturer launches so many products at once that it is worthwhile covering a large range of their materials. Caesarstone’s massive development of its high-end range a year or two back was a challenge. Their own images of individual stones are superb – they are second to none in graphic design – but getting them all together under one set of lights is still useful.

The pound coin is included for scale.

But the most frequent need is for images that compare stones from different manufacturers. This image of plain white quartz products was take last October, and is typical of what we try to provide to help our customers. With the pure, white-on-white look still massively popular across Surrey, quartz worktops made from these materials, and especially our stock Affordable White, have been been important for us. 

The white paper is included to try to help show colour tone. 

Of course, the marble-look has been the biggest recent trend, as we have written before. Again, comparing colour-tone and vein-size is not always easy. Photographing them together is a big help.  Here our stock stones at the time (Marbre Carrara and Blanco Massa) rub shoulders with Silestone Lyra and Lagoon, Cambria Swanbridge and Caesarstone Frosty Carrina, as well as stones that have more recently become part of our stock range – Radianz Lucern Lake and Novaestone Bianco Carrara.

Some images are fairly simple – just two stones. In this case, a switch of stock stone led to the need for the photo: we had quality control issues with the Picasso White Stellar and CRL’s subtle sparkle white, Arctic Shimmer, was brought in to fill the gap. Customers need to see the difference! Note how a slightly warmer tone is visible, as well as the texture difference. 

It isn’t just the whites either. Here is a recently photographed selection of brown marbled and speckled quartz. This includes the stunning Cambria Canterbury, Cambria Hampshire and Radianz Mirama Bronze. (See our whole installation case study in this stone here.)