Quartz Kitchen Countertops

Quartz has really started taking a foothold in today's kitchen, mainly because of it's durability and that it is maintenance free. Quartz is one of the hardest, most abundant minerals found in nature - only diamond, sapphire and topaz are harder.

There are several companies offering quartz counters. The most common are Silestone and Caeserstone. Below we look at both companies.

Silestone Countertops

The Cosentino tradition began 70 years ago in Almeria, Spain, where the Cosentino family began operations in the stone industry. Sixty years later, the advent of the natural quartz surfacing industry added a new dimension to the company and would eventually lead sales to the American market with Silestone.

Cosentino USA was established in 1998 to distribute and market Silestone natural quartz surfaces in North America. As the quartz surfacing pioneer in the United States, Cosentino USA is reshaping the traditional American way of thinking when it comes to surfacing design. With five production lines, Cosentino is the largest manufacturer of natural quartz surfaces in the world, giving Cosentino USA access to the largest inventory.

Multi-dimensional functionality makes Silestone® Quartz a Cleaner, Safer Surface for your home. Silestone offers the unique combination of built-in Microban® antimicrobial product protection, National Sanitation Foundation certification and GREENGUARD Indoor Air Quality Certification.

Microban protection inhibits the growth of microbes such as odor-causing bacteria, mold and mildew. While Microban protection does not protect users from foodborne illness and is not a substitute for normal cleaning practices, it does result in countertops that are easier to clean and stay clean.

Certifications by the National Sanitation Foundation and the GREENGUARD Environmental Institute mean Silestone Quartz is a Safer Surface for areas where food preparation takes place, while protecting the quality of your indoor air quality because it has low-to-no emission (off gassing) of toxic chemicals into the indoor environment.

Silestone is GREENGUARD certified for low emitting interior building materials, furnishings, and finish systems used in educational (daycare and K-12) environments. All GREENGUARD Children & SchoolsSM products have been tested for their chemical emissions performance.

Unique Textures

To the touch, Silestone has proven to possess the dynamism needed to revolutionize texture. Launched in its original polished finish, Silestone reinvented itself, yet again, in 2006 with an exclusive new look and feel in Silestone Leather™. Silestone Leather was inspired by the matte, smooth texture of natural leather and fulfills the demand for a honed stone appearance, while always featuring the unparalleled durability that is legendary to Silestone.

Color and Depth

First introduced 20 years ago in 12 original colors, Silestone has evolved its color palette over and over leading to more than 50 color selections. Each color is carefully designed and formulated to please the eye while simultaneously matching the most current trends in fashion and style.

In addition to the myriad hues, Silestone offers a wide array of options based on depth of color and dimension. This design flexibility ranges from a single-mixing color process that results in a more homogeneous look, to Cosentino's three-dimensional color process for added depth and finally the most exclusive, innovative five-dimensional color process that provides a higher index of refraction for yet more richness of color.

Composition and Pattern

Silestone colors vary not only in hue, from the most subtle neutral shades, to the rather brilliant and dynamic tones; Silestone has also reinvented its spectrum of patterns. From its solid, homogeneous patterns to its color selections filled with movement with varying size quartz gemstone particulates and other enhancement materials.

And the possibilities to add different components are virtually endless. Such as, the enhancements of glass and mirror featured in the Stellar Series, the large grains of quarried quartz in the Mountain Series and the sanded mirrors in the Cielo Series... always arriving at a new and unique quartz design that is fashion-forward.

Versatility

The look, the touch, the feel, is but the basic ingredients in a sophisticated formula of development and design. Cut, Silestone offers virtually unlimited possibilities in terms of applications. Ideally suited for kitchen countertops, Silestone is also excellent for bathroom vanity tops, table tops, floors and even shelving. On a vertical line, Silestone makes for excellent backsplash designs, shower walls and other wall cladding, giving the end-user the power to continue reinventing their spaces with Silestone Quartz.

 

CaesarStone Countertops

Founded in 1987, CaesarStone was an early pioneer of the natural quartz surfaces market. Its dominant position in the market has been achieved through continuous investment, extensive research and development, highly trained personnel and an advanced market infrastructure.

CaesarStone evolved a new kind of work surface by adding quartz to the Bretonstone process. The manufacture of slabs from a mixture of ground quartz aggregates, pigments and polymers proved to be the unique components necessary for this new generation of surfacing. As a result of this advanced technology, CaesarStone is able to provide improved products with unprecedented physical properties superior to those of marble, granite and other manufactured surfaces. For more than a decade CaesarStone has set new standards in innovation and craftsmanship and continues to set the trends in the industry.