Thanks cat_mom and Maggie, hi and thanks for your interest! I don't have any pics yet beyond the last batch I posted awhile back as to choices... we're about to order the stuff although I've already got the vanity. The big decisions were whether to tile up the walls or not ... I asked the contractor to go ahead and work into his final estimate that we'll do so ... and the tub. I have a deep old white cast iron tub that I am 90% sure I'm going to have reglazed, because it is a tight fit into the alcove and nothing I'm seeing is really quite as thin and also deep and also cast iron. So if we do that, bathroom will be: Black wood vanity, 49" kohler black enamel cast iron vanity top, black tub, black toilet (hoping for Kohler Santa Rosa if the rough-in will fit), and absolute black 12x12 tiles 8' up the wall. Above that will be an off/soft white flat paint section and ceiling, and the door will be that color. Will have a beveled 4'x4' mirror and a beveled-mirror medicine cabinet. All the fixtures will be brass, and probably the knobs on the vanity too. Going with a couple round brass robe hooks (really knobs) instead of towel racks. Getting a black porcelain recessed toilet roll holder, and will have two 12x12 granite recessed niches in the tub alcove for shower and bath use. Will very likely add an all-glass sliding tub door ... though I'd love to do without that and without a shower curtain ideally ... I'm more of a bath person. (I was thinking I could always stash a shower curtain and rod in the hall closet for shower use occasionally... but most likely will go with the sliding glass door. I'm going to get a black plantation shutter box for the bathroom window. And for lighting I will likely have a sconce on each side of the vanity with a black silk pleated shade... so there will be soft light and it will go up and down from the sconces. I may add a dimmable recessed light above the vanity but really would like to leave that option open (pre-wired) till I see what that place looks like and how much I have to tinker with lighting to get the soft glowy effect I'm after instead of glare from all the shiny black and brass. :)

I have polished Absolute Black Premium stone and I love it! I would put it in again if I had it to do over. Yes, if you don't wipe down the counters daily you will gather & see dust. However, our counters are wiped down at least once a day (usually after dinner) and we don't seem to accumulate dust...if you live in the desert (or other dusty locale), though, you might have a different experience. As to fingerprints, water spots, crumbs, etc...yes, you do see them but... Crumbs...really only visible if there are a lot of them or they're large crumbs Water spots...visible only while wet! They look a little darker than the surrounding counter but once they're dry they blend in. You can see a faint outline and little bit less "shine" if you search for a dried water spot, but it's not obvious otherwise. Fingerprints...again, yes, they do show up if they're particularly greasy. However, "normal" fingerprints don't show much at all. If you're someone who likes a pristine/always perfect looking kitchen, you may not be happy with a polished dark stone. However, if you're OK with a somewhat lived-in look I think you'll be happy with it...like we are! BTW...we're also not "clean as you go" type of people. Sure, I'll wipe up a big spill or brush off a large volume of crumbs or dry a large water spot, but by and large, I let the crumbs, water, and spills stay until I get around to wiping the counters in the evening. If I'm having a party or want my counters to be extra-clean/shiny, I use a microfiber cloth plus Method Daily Granite Cleaner & Polish. Day-to-day, though, I just use a small amount of detergent on a dishcloth and wipe the counters down. Sometimes I dry them after (using circular motions), sometimes not. If I over-do it on the detergent, I sometimes get a very light haze...but I've learned pretty well by now how much is "just right' (through trial & error). Oh...some people use a 50/50 mix of water & alcohol on their counters...I keep meaning to try it b/c it's much less expensive and I could probably use it daily.

Do you have a link to it? I don't know Black Jaguar and couldn't find it on a search, but there was a Black Panther that was listed to be the same as Andes Black. Is BJ the same thing? I have Black Impala leathered which looks fairly close to Panther. I did look at AB honed as well and it was beautiful and felt good to the touch. I was concerned about fingerprints, though the slab I touched in the warehouse didn't show any when I tried. The Impala leathered shows almost nothing, and what does show goes away with a quick wipe-down. The thing about AB whether honed or polished that you need to be careful about is whether it's actually something else that is dyed/treated to make it look like it or authentic AB. I can't tell you the difference but there are several here who can.

Rupes, After you tested the lemon juice on the sealer did you try to remove it? I'm wondering if it'll be permanent or if it can be dealt with. When our honed AB counters were first installed we had quite a few "stains.". For example, grease splatters. I could not get them out. They have since disappeared...whether they were absorbed into the stone or what, I don't know. I do periodically use the Method cleaner so I'm wondering if that helped. What I do now to clean the counters is use hot water and a tiny bit of dish soap, then use the Method cleaner every few days or so, with a microfiber cloth. I haven't seen anything on our counters like what you showed with the test above, even though our marble counter has etched quite a bit. I've heard the Cambria Black is less prone to fingerprints,etc., if that's an option for you.