Demand continues to rise for a new luxury stone in the marketplace: hard marble. Up to eighty percent of our customers walk in CRS Granite & Marble’s showroom door wanting the gray and white look of Italian Calacatta or Carrara marble but declaring they don’t want soft marble. Many of them walk out choosing a Brazilian hard marble, and here’s why.
As a hybrid stone, it is more suited for today’s hardworking family kitchens. In the Countertop Testing Station in CRS’s showroom, we exposed slabs of hard marble to wine, toothpaste, ketchup, mustard, tomato sauce, and lemon juice for up to two hours at a time. We found no etching or shadowing of the hard marble with any of these products, leaving us with a great sense of confidence that it is an enduring material for rigorous kitchen use.
Since we have seen such good results from testing, during international buying trips, we began seeking out Brazilian quarries who operate according to CRS’ high level of quality standards. We found a reliable partner who is an established exotic and specialty stone manufacturer and exporter. They recently opened a Brazilian marble processing plant and continue to explore new quarries for hard marble slabs. The company’s modern processes have improved the recovery of this natural, luxury stone and made it possible for CRS to bring it to our customers.
With a focus on providing high-quality finishes, including polished, brushed, leathered, and honed finishes, we can bring this range of options to fit well within a multitude of kitchen design styles. Hard marble exhibits many artistic qualities with an inherent beauty that only nature can create. As a luxury one-of-a-kind, but not trend-dependent stone, it can adapt to the personalities of kitchen design styles from contemporary to farmhouse to transitional and traditional. The organic movement of its veining provides a custom look for each installation we do and makes Brazilian hard marble a creative choice for homeowners who need hardworking kitchens that are gorgeous.
SUNNY SURANA is president of CRS MARBLE & GRANITE. Visit the Raleigh showroom at 7521 Exhibit Court, visit CRSGRANITE.COM, or call 919-784-9282.