As visitors explore our showroom they often find their “favorite” stone and choose it for their home or project. At Boston Granite Exchange, we get to see scores of stone slabs arrive in our showrooms each week. It is exciting to see old favorites come back into inventory as well as seeing beautiful new stone slabs up close as they literally fly into place. It becomes impossible not to have an affinity for different stones.
Recently Across the Counter chatted with members of the BGE team to find out what their favorite stones are.
Tara Poirier is BGE’s Import Compliance Coordinator. In this important role, she literally sees and touches every stone that comes into the BGE showrooms. Her favorite stone, “… is Belverdere Leathered quartzite. I love the coloring and movement of the stone. In my opinion, using a leathered stone cuts down on glare from lights and I like the feel of it.”
Mike Joyce, Sales Account Manager at our West Bridgewater Showroom, answered enthusiastically, “I like Ijen Blue quartzite. It has a very interesting color palette. We don’t often see the cooler bluish tones mix with vibrant red veins. It’s a fun quartzite stone; it works for me!”
Terri Feeney, our Accounting Manager, says her favorite stone is Belverdere quartzite “I love the dark background with the movement of the creamy white marble look and the bands of gray. In a market where white quartz is very popular, I like the not so trendy traditional look of the dark counters. Belvedere, in my opinion, is a gorgeous natural stone that looks stunning with wood grain cabinetry.
John Byrne, Vice President of Sales, told us, “One of my favorite stones certainly would be Danby Imperial Honed Marble. I love the fact that it is quarried in New England – specifically in Danby, Vermont. A beautiful white marble with gray and brown/gold veins. This is also a harder marble, so it holds up fairly well when compared with other marbles. I’ve been to the Danby Quarry many times and I’ve seen the process, from taking blocks from the mountain to the finishing of the slabs. I get to hand select the blocks I want for my customers. All processing is done in the mountain. I don’t think there is another quarry in the world that can do this.”
Bill Thomas, BGE’s General Manager answered, “One of my favorites is Belverdere Leathered: the contrast of the black, gold and white is spectacular. The leathered finish really highlights the movement and the stone’s character. This quartzite can be used as a countertop and island and looks incredible, but when used as a bar top or in hospitality areas it is truly strong and elegant.”
As you can tell, favorite stones vary and sometimes the same stone resonates with multiple people. This is very much like what happens when visitors come through our showrooms. If you are planning a kitchen renovation or other home project, we invite you to visit one of our showrooms in West Bridgewater or Haverhill, MA where you can explore the large and continuously changing selection of natural stones we have and find your favorite stone for your project.
After a visit, we encourage you to post on one of our social media channels to share your favorite!
No appointments are necessary to come and browse and see what stone speaks to you. We look forward to seeing you.
We look forward to seeing you.