when web searching for quartz, i came across sites in other languages, where they had a selection of manufacturers that i had never heard of. Searching more, i found some of them had a foothold stateside. I contacted them, got samples, and found them all the same. On all their web sites they all say they are all the same. Hth

a large local development went with the cheaper chinese 'quartz' product...the quartz/resin proportions were 70/30, a far cry from the industry standard of 93/7 for the main brands. This development has had tons of problems with the counter tops...they looked good to start but they have not performed well over time. Now, China makes a lot of stuff (really :-) ) and different manufacturers there may have different ratios, so you will need to determine if this batch is of the better high quartz type or the other. Notwithstanding the wage costs in china (which are rising fast) there are generally other reasons why some products from china are so much cheaper... caveat emptor capian

@Stacie Holden-Rivers thanks for all the info! I happen to be looking at similar color combinations using white and off white together. from what I see in the your pix, looks like the tile is stark white vs the off-white brick? we are also doing a major kitchen reno..appreciate the offer for the black tempal, but we live in NC. when I was at a fabricator the other day, I commented that I wanted to quartz for ease of cleaning with windex...I received a very negative response telling me to never do that! just mild soap and water! I was also told this when we installed marbe and would make a diluted spray fo dawn and water..but have mostly given that up now too. can you share which brick you used? thanks again! @joseph_corlett thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with me. sooo helpful. I had read in one thread that someone had the Casearstone Oxidan and noted that the finish/process on that one and Black Tempal were the only two with that particluar finish/process. are you aware of that being an issue or reasons for concern? is it the black that tends to show more fingerprints? when I search for other dark quarts, for example Daltile Broadway Black, I do not find concerns about the fingerprinting, etc. thanks you agian for sharing yoru expertise

IMO quartz is the last thing I would choose for a kitchen counter . It costs the same as real stone with none of the attributes of real stone. A nice polished white granite would be my choice .