If anyone is as confused as I was about these countertops, this post might offer some help.

For our kitchen remodel, my wife and I were looking for the “look” of marble and the durability of granite. We initially focused on engineered Quartz countertops from companies like Silestone and Caesarstone, but once we saw the look of the natural Quartzite offerings and heard how durable they were, we quickly shifted focus.

Seemed like an easy decision, but not so fast.

After doing some research, I learned that the Quartzite slabs we were looking at (Brazilian Arabescato, White Fantasy and Super White) were actually Dolomite, which is not nearly as durable as granite. In fact, whereas marble is made of calcium carbonate, Dolomite is made of calcium magnesium carbonate, so it is much closer to marble than Quartzite in its composition.

Geologists use Mohs scale to measure the hardness of minerals. For reference, Talc is a 1 and Diamond is a 10, and a material with a rating of 4 should be able to scratch a material with a 3 rating.

According to Geology.com, Quartzite is a 7, making it “harder than crusher jaws, loader buckets, sizing screens, truck beds, and other equipment used to handle and process the stone”. Granite is nearly as hard, typically rated a 6.

In contrast, Dolomite is typically a 3.5 to 4 on Mohs scale. And marble is rated a 3. So Dolomite is a bit harder than marble, but significantly softer than Quartzite or granite. This is one reason why I think the practice of labeling Dolomite slabs as Quartzite, which many respected suppliers do, is downright misleading.

In terms of etching, as with marble, Dolomite is more susceptible to etching than Quartzite or granite. Since Dolomite is less soluble in acid than calcite, one can logically assume that Dolomite is less likely to etch than traditional marble containing mostly Calcite. However, the difference is probably marginal.

Finally, many people seem to refer to Brazilian Arabescato, White Fantasy and Super White as being one in the same. In our experience, they were very different. Super white had a lighter and more muted look. Brazilian Arabescato had higher contrast, with darker grays and brighter whites. White Fantasy was somewhere in between. You certainly wouldn’t confuse one for any of the others.

Since we didn’t want to go with a calcitic marble and didn’t see any granite or true Quartzite that had exactly the look we wanted, our decision came down to either going with an engineered quartz such as Caesarstone Calacatta Nuvo, or one of the Dolomite options.

The quartz would have offered us low maintenance and high durability. Other than using common sense, we wouldn’t really have to think much about keeping our counters like new. The Dolomite would require some thoughtfulness and periodic sealing, and would likely show some signs of use over the years due to the unavoidable scratch here and there.

From an appearance perspective, although we didn’t think the engineered quartz was as stunning as the Dolomite slabs, it would certainly look beautiful in any kitchen.

But at the end of the day, we kept returning to the Brazilian Arabescato slabs. We loved the natural and lively look. And we felt it would be a great match with our cabinet colors of light gray and white. If we had darker cabinets we probably would have gone with the Super White and its lighter tones.

So we purchased the Brazilian Arabescato in a honed finish, labeled as a 4 on Mohs scale, with the realization that we’d have to use more care than if we had gone with the engineered quartz. And we hoped that the Dolomite would be a bit more durable than more traditional marble, giving us a little more protection against scratching and etching.

Hope this helps others trying to navigate similar decisions. For reference, I attached an image of one of the slabs we selected along with the cabinet colors we went with.

Best,
Mike

P.S. I should note that it is possible that some of the lighter, marble “look” Quartzite slabs are actually Quartzite and not Dolomite. If you can find one that is truly Quartzite and provides the look you want, I’d say for it. And of course, there are new engineered quartz designs that will likely flood the market in the coming months and years that will look more and more like natural stone, so my decision might have been very different a year from now!{{attachment:1690364}}

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