Anova 1045M

A warm stone tone between brown and grey, with patches and a coarse texture moving diagonally across the slab — the look of worn natural stone rather than polished marble. There is far more movement in it than in most of the range.

It comes in a matte finish (that is what the M in the model number means), and it changes everything: matte swallows reflections, hides fingerprints and water marks, and gives the stone back its rough feel. On the other hand, a matte finish shows greasy marks more than a polished one — a regular wipe settles it.

Anova Quartz is an Israeli maker and importer based in Be'er Sheva, supplying engineered quartz with a high quartz content and a twelve-year warranty (registered online after installation). The quartz is non-porous — it will not absorb wine, lemon or oil, it never needs resealing, and soap and water handle the daily clean. Like all engineered quartz it is not heat-proof, so a hot pan goes on a trivet rather than on the worktop.