Hi, All the granite I liked was out of budget as well so I put the one I loved on the peninsula "Capolaboro" and used a plain cheap under $9 a sf foot granite on the other side.

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Yes, lets see pics of exotic granite and please provide names.

I hope he doesn't mind if I link to a comment of his. I cannot recall the name of this spectacular green quartzite, but his vendor said he'd not seen anything like it before (or since).

Here is a link that might be useful: Itsnotrocketscience's quartzite

Mine is still in slab form :( Can I play too though- I love my granite!:

would esp. love to see Dakota Mahogany or other upper Midwest products...

Oh goodness, how could I resist this one - thanks for asking! By the way,
I too thought they were not available in our area, out of our price range and
not 'fit'. Boy, was I WRONG!!! And to think, we had 'gasp!' butcher block
formica from the mid 70's! What an improvement!

Cienza, I still LOVE your granite soooo!

Beagles, are you aware that Blue Bahia etches? I'm pretty sure that that was the blue stone that had that issue.

Azul do Mar - a quartzite:

Mine is Tobacco Wave from Brazil, 3cm thick.

As a slab, 1 of the 2...

Transformed to countertops...

Kitchendetective, was the green granite called Verde Bambu?

Here is a link that might be useful: Verde Bambu Granite

Thanks cloud_swift- yes, I am aware that blue bahia etches, as does my marble in my perimeter countertops. My kitchen is not a kitchen that's ever really going to do more than heat up take-out though, so we're just planning on not spilling any of our take-out on the counters :) Thanks for the info though, I really appreciate the warning!!

A really cool color that I have seen lately is iron red.

That Verde Fire is spectacular indeed! I've never seen anything like it, and it looks good as a counter, too - nice match with the cabinets.

Mine is still a slab! Getting installed this week though!!!!!! We are scheduled to close on Friday.

Solaris:

I just put this pic in another thread (just now saw this thread). Anyway...here it is. I'm pretty sure it's Quartz - the name is Honey Onyx. I found it in a stone yard on a whim while visiting in California from Alaska. My daughter took this pic of me with the only stone in the yard that rang my bells! :)

No, ntt, not Verde Bamboo. Here's another link, so you can see more of the difference. You'll need to scroll down to get to John's kitchen.

Claybabe (I'm pretty sure that that was her name; loved her kitchen) was around a few years ago. Her DH was a geologist who insisted on using Verde Fire (AKA Verde Fuoco) in two houses. Maybe when the FKB is up again, OP could have a look. It may be in there.

That onyx is usually installed with a light source underneath or, on a wall, with backlighting. The translucency is highlighted, and, with it, the drama of the patterns. However, it can be delicate.

Here is a link that might be useful: Very unusual quartzite

Wow there's some beautiful granites in this thread.

Here's mine - another blue bahia.

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Here's mine - it is called Caramelo and has a lot of mica chips that sparkle in the light. The picture doesn't do it justice.

Kitchendetective, there are a few version of Verde Bamboo. Take a look at the link below. John's granite sure looks alot like the one showing on this link; they call it Verde Bamboo.

Here is a link that might be useful: Another version of Verde Bamboo

I LOVE the Blue Bahia...one of my favorite stones! Blue coloring looks so funky and unique on granite, that is why it's so rare ;-) But the one that really makes my jaw drop every time I look at it, is the always stunning Van Gogh / Blue Louise:

Pharaoh has stunning counters too. I don't have pix of them but if we keep this at the top, we may get lucky.

Hmm. Not sure. I know it wasn't called that, but, of course that means nothing. I thought it was like the one linked below (in one of my favorite kitchens: Andrea345, also via the FKB), but he said no to that one also.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Here are some good photos.

Here is a link that might be useful: from September

Here is my slab of exotic Kosmos Gold
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Here is my countertop with it!

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Looking at the other posts, I figured that I should have added some pictures that show our Azul do Mar closer-up as one can't really appreciate the pattern in that picture. Our fabricator made trim pieces to go around our range top.

Columbia Gorge Stoneworks made wall plates out of granite we sent them (mostly our sink cutouts) for the outlets and swtiches on the backsplash:

Here is mine, sorry the pic isn't as great as some of the others it's from my phone. And I tried two lighting schemes to show it off properly. It is hard to get a good picture. This island is one continuous 10 foot slab. I love it.

melaska, that definitely looks to these (not so professional) eyes like onyx. I have a coffee table in my living room that has an onyx top very similar to your slab.

Your slab is beautiful, BTW :)

jgopp - What granite is that??? I may just have to check out that one as well. BEAUTIFUL! It has the movement & airiness I love. Where did you get it?

Thanks, hsw_wc :) It is onyx...I thought onyx was just part of the 'honey onyx' name.

At the yard it was named "Donna Sandra Granite" but I believe it is also known as "super white quartzite" after seeing other pictures of it. The place I bought it from said they hardly ever get it in stock and they had 2 slabs left. I bought both of them. It was a bit out of my budget but that was a splurge that I love.

Luckily for me the pieces I got have some really really good movement in it. Especially that end with the big white vein. It is always funny when friends come over and they always say "I absolutely love your marble" since they aren't used to seeing a stone so light other than marble.

Thank you for the kind compliment I always appreciate it :)

Not installed yet, but I pried open my wallet for Juparana Florencia (maybe it's Juparana Bordeaux) for two small counters on either side of the stove. We're doing a modest update, and using butcherblock from Ikea for the other parts of the counter.

Given the strongly cream-peachy-rust of the existing saltillo-color floor tile (throughout the house) and the dark reddish brown walnut cabinets ... there were a lot of remnants in the boneyard that looked like baby-poop yellow-brown next to them. I was in full "satisficing" mode - a remnant looked good on that day was going to be my pick unless they all sucked.

The cutters did a great job and cut so a continuous "vein" of dark chocolate with peridot-like green inclusions will run from one counter to the other.

Here is a link that might be useful: Juparana Florencia

jgopp - I'm so happy that you were able to get your beautiful stone. Yes, that end with the white vein is mesmerizing.

My newly installed elegant brown

After looking at these, I think there's a career I could have after I retire from teaching in two years: I could be the front-desk gal at a granite yard. There's something so steadying, so soul-satisfying, about these slabs of God's handiwork. I just loved this post.

Call me Granite Girl!!