MARBLE - a hard metamorphic limestone which may be crystalline or granular. Great heat, pressure and the influence of other minerals over the millennia have created hundreds of types of marble in a kaleidoscope of colors and vein patterns. Marble is generally defined as that type of limestone which can take a polish (shine), although there are some stones which can't be polished, that are officially designated limestone.

    TRAVERTINE - Similar to limestone in composition, but exhibits small, pock-marked holes and cavities which are the result of subterranean water percolating through the rock. These holes and cavities are usually filled-in before the stone is polished. Found in shades of ivory to golden brown.

    ONYX - Translucent or semi-translucent calcite in parallel layers of different colors. Containing beautiful colors and patterns, it tends to be soft and best used for tabletops and decorative objects.

    SLATE - Dense, fine-grained metamorphic rock formed through the compression of various sediments (clays and shale's). This recrystallized structure produces a stone that is strong, has low porosity and cleaves naturally.

    LIMESTONE - For the most part Calcium Carbonate, and often contains the skeletal remains of polyps, shells and other fossilized minutia. Much of the limestone we use today comes from the Jurassic period, having been formed in ocean beds from that time.

    TERRAZZOS AND AGGLOMERATES - Pieces or chips of marble bound together by resin or cementitious material.

    GRANITE - crystalline igneous or metamorphic rock, predominantly consisting of feldspar and quartz with small amounts of other minerals. Granite appears to consist of small crystals compacted together without the veining seen in marble, travertine, onyx, slate and fossil shells found in limestone.