Ott
Wow!
This is going to be a wonderful kitchen to watch progress.
Which Waterstone faucets are you getting?
I have trouble visualizing SS with the ORB. Are you set on the ORB?
I have Baldwin Brass ORB for my front door and it is more brown than black but it might be different than WS but I thought they coordinated their colors to some degree (my BB hardware matches my faucet tones)
I have a Waterstone faucet in my kitchen (antique brass)and went with silgranite cafe brown.

Do you want the sink to be something that calls attention to itself? If you use the anthracite in the white, it will. Faucet too. Personally, I would prefer the stainless, but I don't have any anti-stainless issues. Have you had a quality stainless sink before or only a cheap one installed in apartments or hotel kitchenettes?

By the way, I would also consider the stainless in your island and the anthracite with the black counter -- different surfaces can have different pairings. Look at how they would be seen in the kitchen as a whole.

This post was edited by lascatx on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 10:56

Thank you for replying! You have both helped/educated me numerous times before through your comments on various threads.

a2gemini - I have the Fulton series in "Black Oil Rubbed Bronze" finish. I'm including a pic of the finish. My understanding is it starts off very dark, and over time will show a little more bronze. I already own the faucets, so that decision is a done deal. I'll also include a pic of one of the slabs which have a lot of the rust color as well as charcoal. I hope you will see this and let me know if it confirms or alters your previous thoughts? The kitchen is very open to the living area, and there are three distinct wood colors going on. The cafe brown did not seem to work for some reason, although I'm not sure why.

Lascatx - My windows/views will be the attention grabbers. The location of the anthracite on white won't get immediate attention. It would get delayed attention though! The black on black would because it's more of an open area and it's a serving/drink/public area.
You ask the big question. I have actually NEVER had a stainless sink, and I didn't know I had stainless issues until I started reading this forum! The Kallista is such a pretty sink, if a sink can be pretty. It's 16 gauge, and seems to be built really well..., but then I've already admitted to knowing nothing about stainless sinks!
You think I could do black on black perimeter and stainless on the island? That's interesting. Black is an accent color throughout our house, so I'm not scared of the black on black. And, I wouldn't mind that sink somewhat disappearing as it is in a public space. Could you expand on your thoughts a bit if you have time?

Thanks! Anyone else?

Here is a picture of one of the slabs that would "host" the main sink whether it ends up being anthracite or stainless.

Do they need to match?
I'd probably do the silgranit in the black zimbabwe and the stainless in your white... I think in both cases, this would limit the attention called to the sink.

Hi Kirkhall,
Nope, they don't need to match, but I do want whatever I do to look intentional. So you think the silgranit anthracite would look ok with leathered Zimbabwe Black? With stainless a few feet away on the island with basically white countertop? Thanks for your thoughts...

Ott - That makes more sense now that you show the Black ORB vs standard ORB.
I agree on either making a statement on the sink or blending it in. Initially, I planned to go for truffle but it just didn't seem right...

Yeah, I do think I'd do that... But, I am not a high-contrasts person, so I'd probably not like anthracite in white... And, since you aren't necessarily fond of stainless in your zimbabwe (and love your silgranit) ... I think that is what I'd do.

Unless, one type of sink surface makes more sense functionally in one place than the other (I lost track--is one a clean up sink where you might prefer a "softer" sink)? For example, I'd probably be even more persuaded to do this if the anthracite in zimbabwe was going to be my clean up sink and the stainless in the white was going to be my prep sink.

But, that is me.

Seeing the stone, I would definitely do stainless there over black. I think you can go with the black or stainless sink in a black counter.

If your sinks are undermounted with both counters, then you only see them below the counter surface. Unless they are in a strong and short visual line in the kitchen, being different is probably not a problem. That's even more true if at least one of them pretty nearly matches the counter and doesn't call attention to itself.

I'm not sure what you are reading about stainless sinks but I put in two -- a 16 gauge 31x18 monster and an 18 gauge 16x16. I'm happy with both of them., My Dad has one that is between mine in overall size, not as deep and may be thinner than my prep sink, It has no undercoating and is noisier than either of mine. If that were my only reference point, I might be less inclined to get another, but I'd do the ones I have again.

Also, now that you posted the picture- I have less trouble with stainless, although, I do like my silgranite if you can find a match. Good luck

Ott2, your plans sound wonderful. I will look forward to seeing your progress!

Here's our SS sink with quartz countertop. I like the idea of the black sink on the perimeter. Good luck, oldbat2be

Ok, thanks all, I'll use the Soltiere stainless sink on the main island with the White Macaubas. Question below on other sink...

Kirkhall - The (now) stainless sink on my island will be my everything sink. The other (undetermined) sink with be everybody else's everything sink, and I'll make it just big enough to be useful if needed as an extra prep sink.

lascatx - Both are undermounted sinks. And, thanks for the reference points on stainless!

a2gemini - I am a total Silgranit fan. I wish I could make my own color. I waited to see what the Cinder would look like, and there is now a sample Cinder Silgranit sink in a local showroom, but it fell flat with both the black and the WM. The backsplash that will be on the wall behind the "extra" sink is a warm gray glazed brick. (YAY FOR HAVING A BACKSPLASH ALREADY SELECTED!) But, the metallic gray Silgranit looked bad with the backsplash brick. So, if I do Silgranit, it looks like it will be black on black...

Oldbat2be - Every time I see your backsplash, I think that you are probably a really fun person to know. Not old-bat-ish at all. Thanks for the pics.

In case anyone is still reading...
I am including an architect's rendering of the space we are building. The room is built now. Staining will happen shortly, and cabinets are just now being built. You can see the main sink (now stainless!) on the middle island. The islands and also the wall behind the range are the White Macaubas. The cabinet stretch on the left wall (perpendicular to the islands) will be the breakfast/serving/drink/etc space, and will have the leathered black countertop with the extra sink on the far end. Backsplash is warm gray glazed brick. Cabinet stain and beams are a darker walnut. Floors and ceiling are natural. You can see the proximity of the sinks.
So, picturing that serving space, are you still seeing the anthracite sink, or does this sink need to be stainless given that the main sink (thanks!) is now stainless?
Next time I start a thread? I'll try to include the pics up front! The rendering looks "dark", but the two walls you can't see are mostly all glass. IRL, there is lot's of natural light.

Go with the anthracite in the leathered black zimbabe. Beautiful.