Quartz has matured in quality, appearance and market share which is bringing down the price….dramatically. In the past 2 years it seems as if quartz manufacturers have outdone themselves each quarter with better and better colors and patterns. During that same time, quartz market share has gone up and that has enabled the economies of scale to lower the price of quartz. Significant appearance enhancements have made quartz the preferred choice for customers seeking marble or the marble look.
Both Marble and Dolomite are soft and vulnerable to etching and scratching whereas the quartz colors that look like real marble do not suffer either of those drawbacks.
Granite does not etch or scratch easily either and makes a great countertop choice, but it doesn’t look like marble.
Quartzite is even harder than granite, doesn’t etch or scratch easily but is pricy by comparison due to how much energy and tooling are required to extract it from the earth, slab it and polish it as compared to granite.
The big problem in the countertop industry is bad and misleading information. There are numerous importers and fabricators that claim that certain stones are a quartzite when they are really a marble so that they can sell t to consumers who are anxious to believe that since it is a quartzite it cannot etch or scratch easily. Stones frequently misrepresented and presented as quartzite when they are in fact marbles or dolomite are:
Brown Fantasy
White Princess (Also Known As) Super White
Super White (AKA) White Princess
Dolce Vita
Lumen
Iceberg
Iceberg Blue
Avalanche
Antartide
The really good news here is it is very easy to tell what you are buying with a pair of simple tests. Lemon juice left on the sample will show you within an hour or two if the material being considered will etch. A steel razor blade will not scratch quartzite or granite, but will scratch Marble or Dolomite.