Blue Tempest

The two slabs in stock differ sharply from one another, and that is characteristic of this stone: one carries folded strata of gold, black and white storming along its length, the other a quieter blue-grey ground with amber and rust veins stretched diagonally across it.

Either way this is a statement stone, not a background. The leathered finish drops the glare and keeps the gold warm without shine, which is exactly what makes a surface like this read expensive rather than showy. Both slabs are worth seeing before choosing.

Quartzite is a metamorphic natural stone: quartz sand compacted under heat and pressure until it became a single crystalline rock. It is harder than marble and usually harder than granite — a knife, salt or a ceramic plate leave no mark — and unlike marble it does not etch from lemon or vinegar. It is porous, though: the slab is sealed before delivery, and resealing every year or two keeps it that way. There is no resin in it as there is in engineered quartz, so a hot pan will not scorch it — a trivet is still a good habit, particularly near an edge or a joint.

Every slab is one single piece of rock, and no two slabs of the same stone are ever identical. So we drive out to the supplier's yard with you, choose the actual slab there, and mark the layout on it before it is cut.