I also love the Blue Pearl, but is not in our budget.
I did a lot of reading about it, though. It is a very durable granite. It has a 0 adsorption rating. Be sure and go to your local granite dealer and look at the granite. BP comes in several shades of blue. My friend has it, and it has a lot of white and gray with the blue. I think the GT that Shelayne has is the darker BP.
Don't forget to get a sample of the granite to take home with you in order to see how it looks in your kitchen.

I started drooling when you said you loved the BP..lol

Enjoy your remodel

I've had BP for 8 years now and it is great - looks great and is totally bulletproof. It doesn't need to be sealed, it doesn't stain and it doesn't etch and dirt is barely noticeable.

Just chiming in that we've had our BP since last summer, and I totally agree with the PP. If you can swing it, you will not regret it as far as beauty and durability. Get a few estimates.

Kristina, My daughter has had Blue Pearl in her all white kitchen for about 8 or 9 years. It has survived three children and countless catering events.Wth a quick spray of window cleaner- it looks the way it did the day it was installed. The depth of color is amazing and the "pearl" does remind me of the inside of an oyster shell. Have fun with your new BP countertops!

BP is one of my favorite granites. From what I've read here, it is one of the most bulletproof granites. Beuaty and brawn in one stone--can't beat that!

As Jewel said, make sure you look at different slabs of BP, as they do vary in intensity. My fabricator took me to a few yards before I found my GT--yes, it is darker than some I had seen in my search.

Jewel, I didn't think I could afford it either, as it is a Level 4 here, BUT I found a guy that would do it at a Level 2 price, so maybe shop around, if you really love it.

I am soooo glad I held out, as I was *thisclose* to settling on something that didn't make my heart sing.

I echo what everyone else has said. It is bulletproof and gorgeous. I've had everything imaginable spilled on it and everything wipes up. One of the most amazing things is how it changes--during the day you see a blue fleck here and there and a subtle blue, but at night with the lights on it dances as you move through the room and different mica spots grab the light. It's incredible.

I also agree with the others--make sure you see the actual slab. We saw everything from a very light almost purplish blue with lots of cream, to the one we ultimately chose--Blue Pearl Labrador which was loaded with large blue mica spots (some as large as a quarter or half dollar), gray, black and a little cream. The black really made the blue pop for us. The granite yard we purchased from had 3 varieties in stock at once. And the same name looked different at every yard.

And try to prevent your fabricator from sealing it. Mine was sealed and it's a year and a half later and the sealer is just showing signs of wearing off. We could have opted to strip it with chemicals, but I was afraid of spilling the chemicals on the custom painted cabinets. So we opted to let it wear off.

Good luck. You can't go wrong with Blue Pearl.

As Jewel said, make sure you look at different slabs of BP, as they do vary in intensity. My fabricator took me to a few yards before I found my GT--yes, it is darker than some I had seen in my search.

Jewel, I didn't think I could afford it either, as it is a Level 4 here, BUT I found a guy that would do it at a Level 2 price, so maybe shop around, if you really love it.

I am soooo glad I held out, as I was *thisclose* to settling on something that didn't make my heart sing.

Sorry, I did not mean to post that again.

Wow thank you all so much! I feel so much better about BP. I have looked at BP GT at one yard and it was beautiful. Just to be certain BP GT is darker and bluer than other BP's? Also, should I not have my granite guy seal it? Thanks again ;)

Blue Pearl, in addition to being my favorite of all stones (!), is about as low maintenance as it gets. It CAN'T be sealed, doesn't show fingerprints because of how busy the stone is, and everything cleans right off with Windex! You don't have to worry about hot pans, or scratches and you'd have to TRY to stain it.

Years ago, I built a house in Connecticut, just north of Waterbury. I used 2cm blue pearl slab as a hearth for my fireplace, and I used 12x12 blue pearl tile for my front entry. I used that fireplace as a secondary heat source during the winter, and believe me, we got that thing cranking, and it didn't do a thing to the slab. Melted the cast iron log rack, in the fireplace, but the stone was fine! Any time we'd get sap on the hearth, a little tar remover from an auto parts store, and it was good as new, with no stain or residue, once the solvent would evaporate. As for scratch resistance-- when we first moved in, it was too late in the fall to pour the concrete walk, so for the first winter, we had crushed stone for our front walk. Between guests, 4 young kids, and two dogs tracking that across the granite over the course of the winter, I was scared to death I'd have to tear it up and replace it. But come spring, it was still just as good as new. It's pretty tough stuff! The only problem is that because of the fact that it's so busy a granite, it tends to steal the limelight from all other aspects of the kitchen. But if you're okay with that, I'd say go for it!

Is Emerald Pearl like Blue Pearl except the overall color being green vs blue? I love the "hardiness" of the granite from what I'm hearing here.

Thanks.

Exactly like it.

Bill, blue pearl is also gorgeous in a satin finish. In fact I prefer it but then again, I'm not a shiny surface kinda gal.

I am (well...... not a gal!). In fact, that's what attracted me to blue pearl i the first place. I love the way light will play off the mica chips in the stone and reflect it in all different directions. To me, it's mesmerizing. When I lived in Ct., I used to love sitting in the living room with a fire going, and watch the firelight play off the mica chips. It was almost hypnotic!

I had BP in my old kitchen for 17 years and never had a single problem with it. It "shined" 17 years after being installed just as beautifully as it did the day we had it put in. I loved it - never tired of it - and miss it to this day! I'm very much a granite gal and still have it (and still love it), but it's like BP was my first granite "child" and I do miss it. You will love it... I'd give up something else (crown on cabs, soft close, etc.) in the kitchen to get it.

I had all my choices made, on paper at least. I had 4x4" samples in hand, all looked good.
Yesterday My husband and I went to the stone yards to pick out our slabs. There seems to be no blue slabs left of blue pearl. All the stone yards we visited are singing the same song "this is the way it's coming in now...as they get deeper into quarries the stone tends to change/get darker". I think they should rename it grey pearl. I was so disappointed.
We are re-grouping.
Oh, and the Viatera Everest that I'd fallen in love with for the island, the only authorized vendor for that quartzite closed 2 weeks ago. They have slabs left, a woman on site let us in to the closing facility and let us tag the slab we liked. They are going to get with our builder to transfer the slab to another yard.
We ended up choosing a gorgeous slab of Sea Pearl for our master bath. And then at the fabricators that all our slabs are going to we looked in the boneyard and found a piece of the now unavailable Waterfall for our upstairs guest bath. It's a beautiful blue green that we originally wanted for the kitchen until we found we couldn't get it anymore.
We're recalibrating on the blue pearl. I don't like the grey slabs nearly as much as I liked the blue pearl that we have samples of and have seen in other homes.

I have emerald pearl and LOVE LOVE it. But - that being said - if I were starting over I would pick the blue pearl I saw that was gray. No blue at all in it - just silver, black and gray and gorgeous! More neutral and not as dark as my emerald pearl.

Here is an example that I like

Here's my emerald pearl - although it looks like a "warmer" green in this pic. It's really a cooler green. Like a bluish green

We picked Blue Pearl from a new shipment in Central Ohio in September. It is blue, not grey or black tones. It is being cut this week.

Hope for the best.

Now, how to get paint between the cabinets and the framing when it is less than a small finger's width wide. Ha, ha.

Karen

Mountaineergirl, why would you not choose your green pearl again? A friend here has it and it is gorgeous!
Karen.Ohio, I'm jealous. I really wanted a blue "blue pearl". There aren't any here, and we've been to all the stone yards within reasonable distance. We're in SC.

I agree it is gorgeous! I just really really like the gray, black and silver in the blue pearl. I'd rather have that than a real blue Blue Pearl. But with my white cabinets - the emerald pearl is striking. I saw a blue pearl when we looked at slabs but it was way too blue for me. Had I seen one that was mostly gray and silver, I would've went went that.

mlweaving_Marji

Are these stone yards fabricators also, or are they just the wholesalers? This may or may not make a difference. Maybe they have other sources that can ship stone in from another state.

Karen

Can't find a light to bring out the blue.

We have lived with blue pearl for 11 years and we always thought it was black. But it has been fantastically practical - we have just enlarged our kitchen which is much lighter now and when the daylight is on the granite we can now see the blue in it - which we like. We may keep the blue pearl (it still looks new) in our 'new' kitchen.

We needed more granite for our new kitchen and decided to change it so we will be selling our blue granite (sadly as it has been amazing and still looks really good). We have 3 pieces about 3 1/2 metres long.

I've had blue pearl on my island for almost 7 years. Oh, I loved it when they installed it. But now I really don't. The light hits it all day, and every little speck of dust, hand prints, everything shows. And you can't just wipe it off. You have to use a cleaner, and a dry cloth to polish it....every time! I'm really tired of trying to keep it looking good. It does have a couple deep scratches from a bowl that was slid across it, and a couple deep pits (have not idea how they occurred). If you're a neat freak, this wouldn't be my first choice.

Is there is difference between blue pearl GT and blue pearl labrador

I realize this is an old thread, but thought I'd my two cents in case anyone else like me reads through this and partially bases his/her choice on all the comments about how indestructible Blue Pearl granite is. I wish I had taken joyce_6333's comment more seriously. We have had our Blue Pearl for a little over one month and I am so sad about it. During the daytime it looks great. At night with the lights on it does not. Scratches and divots can be seen when the light hits it right. The first night after installation we noticed what looked like something smeared and dried on. Two of the fabrication/installation techs came back out and took a razor blades to it to scrape it off. Then I noticed some scratches and a divot. Another tech came out and filled the divot (beautifully, I might add!), but said the scratches are too shallow to fill -- we'd have to have the stone repolished, which is a big job and $$$. In the days after, we noticed even more scratches. Like I said, they show only in certain light. And I have three big dish drying mats and three cutting boards with rubber corner backing protection placed strategically where we'd set anything down. The biggest scratch is almost a (curved) foot long. The other ones are straight and "only" about two inches long each. I am SUPER careful, use Weiman's granite cleaner and clean microfiber clothes, don't let any water drops sit on it, don't even prep anything on it -- I'm using a card table for that because I am afraid to further ruin the granite. Hubby hates it because I barely let him touch it either. We were told, don't cut things on the bare counter -- not because you'll damage the counter, but because you could dull your knives! So how, when we've babied this counter, is it scratched already? And has holes (only two very tiny ones, but still).

Husband isn't upset; I am. It's two huge slabs with one seam down the center, which is barely noticeable -- they did such a great job with that. He said if I had seen how hard it was for the five guys to get it in the house and in place, I would understand how it could have been scratched in the process. But, geez, I at least expected it to look brand new on day one. And they sealed it and told us to reseal every 6-12 months even though now I'm reading pretty much everywhere else not to seal Blue Pearl. ??? I will say that the two smaller areas (stove and coffee bar areas) have no visible scratches or divots -- they look really nice.

And, oh! The fingerprints!!! I've tried to cover every surface where my husband might put his hands, but sometimes as soon as I move the cloth he'll touch the granite and bam! Fingerprints! I guess this is the downside of having a polished surface. Let's see what happens when we can start having family/friends/guests over again one of these years.

I promised hubby I would let it go (or see a therapist about my "obsession" and "emotional attachment" to the countertop). So, this is my way of getting it out, "grieving" the loss of my expectations, and moving on. Hope it helps someone else.

[It does look lightyears better than the 40-year-old cracked white tile we had before (already cracked when we moved in). And I am loving that we had the countertop made into one level surface rather than retaining the dysfunctional raised bar area behind the sink. Our job entailed two 3cm slabs @ 124" x 74" (63.72 sq ft). We went with the demi-bullnose edge.]

We had blue pearl in my last house for 26 years. I selected it when we built the home. I found it very easy to live with. It is so dense, I never had it sealed and it looked as good the day I sold them home as when it was installed. It is a busier pattern so it camoflauged crumbs very well. In fact many times I thought I'd done cleaning and later, in another lot, I'd see that I hadn't done a good job, and a few things remained on the countertop. I'd highly recommend this stone for somebody who wants a maintenance free counter.

"And they sealed it and told us to reseal every 6-12 months even though now I'm reading pretty much everywhere else not to seal Blue Pearl. ???"

Bingo. Some ignorant fabricators will seal every single granite counter, without the knowledge that many granites should not be sealed. When such a dense stone as Blue Pearl is sealed, the sealant cannot absorb. The stone is too dense. So the sealant sits on top of the stone, creating haze, and showing streaks whenever anything is moved across it. And if you've sealed it "every 6-12 months" as you mentioned, the problem is compounded each time. You can research online how to remove the sealant, but basically it's applying acetone very thinly and wiping it up. Windows must be open during this.

I have never heard of Blue Pearl scratching. This stone is so hard, it seems physically and geologically impossible for it to scratch. I don't know what to say about that. It is a first.

i have a 12" x 12" tile that I purchased 15 yrs ago (was considering for my counter top renovation in a previous home). For 15 yrs it has been used as a place to sit a hot pot rather than on a non-granite counter top. No sealer, no scratches, not dings/divots. I, of course, don't cut on it, but even my cast iron pots haven't scratched it. I truly don't understand why you are having these problems.

Thanks for the responses. I neglected to mention that when they came to remove the streaky substance, they used acetone in addition to the razor blade and didn't reseal after that. Here's a photo of the largest scratch.

And two of the smaller ones. The white-looking areas are just the reflection of the ceiling box lighting, which really makes the scratches stand out (imo)

.

And here's the remaining unfilled hole. The other one was larger and on the front edge of our demi-bullnose edge, which they undetectably filled.

We had blue Pearl installed in our kitchen in 2006. It was incredibly dark in the kitchen. We had light grey stone back splash tile, light grey stone tile floor and cabinets the same as seen in these photos, kinda light cherry.
We even had a skylight and it made our kitchen sooo dark 😔 We could not see crumbs unless we were at counter level.

5 years ago we renovated and asked for ‘light and airy’. In no way do we EVER regret going with lighter colored surfaces.

Good luck

@HU-699681654 - my question about the scratches that you show would be, is the Blue Pearl actually scratched, or is the thick layer of sealant on top scratched? As mentioned, you should remove the sealant with acetone and see.

Thanks, M Miller. When the installers/fabricators came back out to inspect the scratches they confirmed they are scratches in the stone, albeit too shallow to fill. They used acetone on these areas (in addition to using acetone and razor blades the previous time they came out to remove the "sticky" residue that looked like it had been wiped on and left to dry -- as previously posted, "I neglected to mention that when they came to remove the streaky substance, they used acetone in addition to the razor blade and didn't reseal after that."). So I don't think it is sealant. ???