Understanding Stone

Luca Alciati & Laura Fiora

Among the thousands of stones being sold in the international markets, there is one which from the distance is mistaken for wood because of its physical appearance: the sandstone Rainbow / Teakwood This unique physical characteristic has given it a very special niche in the market, and it has become extremely popular all over the world because it is perhaps the only natural stone with an aesthetic aspect that resembles wood.

One of the most well known granites from India in the world markets is TAN BROWN. It is valued for applications in decoration. This article highlights the different varieties of this material since, as is so often the case in natural stone, there is often a wide range of colours and varieties existing within any single material.

In the international stone industry trade fairs any observer would have noticed that several Indian companies (especially from the north), exhibit a wide range of stones that look like sandstone. Most of the time these stones are quartzite, though in commercial parlance, they are often sold as sandstone. This article explores the world of quartzite in India.

Paulo Florio Giafarov - paulo@dggstones.com

With an area of approximately 8.5 million square kilometers, much of it unexplored, Brazil has an enormous potential for research and the discovery of new ornamental stones.

Apart from the well known deposits of granite in India, the country also has the biggest deposits of Green Marble (sometimes known as Verde Guatemala in the international markets). Its technical definition would be recrystallised, compact variety of metamorphosed limestone capable of taking polish, rock composed of Serpentine. The Indian green is a very compact and mature marble and is strong. Its hardness / strength is greater in comparison to other green stones found elsewhere. For example, Indian marble does not warp.

The Spaniards who reached the New World around end of the XV century or towards the beginning of the XVI century, guided by Christopher Columbus, used for the buildings of their new settlements and the main social buildings, a limestone denominated Coral Stone, which, even today, can be found in abundance in the Dominican Republic and Colombia.

This stone was formed in the riverbeds in the period Pleistocene, starting from the fossils, corals and other marine animals, thus the majority of the coral limestone has originated in the reefs.

Out of extremely wide range of stones that come from India and which have become popular all over the world, one of them goes by the name of Rainforest. In almost any stone stockyard anywhere in the world one will almost always find at least a few slabs of this attractive sandstone, though in true industry style, the name on the sticker may well be different. This article explains in more detail the complexities behind this stone much in demand.