He's near Grand Rapids, MI.

Kristina, let me know where you end up going and what you choose. I’m in metro Detroit and also looking at white princess quartzite, but not if it’s not durable.

Hi all, i am from Canada and looking at Princess White for my white shaker cabinets as well. When i went online, i noticed that when search for images of it - the counter looks different. Could it be that different companies use the same names - but they are different tops?

I will attach the image of a sample that I have for Princess White.

Here are the images. Are these the same as the tops you are all speaking about ?

@lmudrick - these look similar to your picture. are you able to take pictures with the counter tops more in focus?

Tdot, that photo is of a synthetic material, "quartz," which is given the same name as the natural stone. The practice of giving synthetic products the same names as natural stones is confusing, to say the least.

Good that you caught the fact that they look different. They are different!

thanks Karin ... i wanted a quartz that has a white that will compliment my pure white shaker cabinets, but no luck. They are all fighting with each other. So I thought of going with a contrast that has whites in it to bring things together - using a white (with a grey undertone) textured subway tile to bring the whites of the cabinet down, and the grey from the counter up.

Thoughts?

Ah, I see. The rest of this thread is about the quartzite version of Princess White, so I presumed that's what you were after, too.

I'm a lowly geologist, so I can't help you with whites and greys, other than to agree that the exact shades are very hard to pin down. Good luck!

My Princess White quartzite slabs have arrived at my fabricator's facility. Can't wait to have them in my new kitchen!

Sandy - how many slabs did you need for the job ? I have had a nightmare with countertops...think we have landed on White princess

So, my Princess White is installed, not without issues. First, one of the four slabs was more yellow than the others, despite that they are sequentially numbered and the supplier insists they are from the same block of stone. Second, this stone is extremely brittle and it chips like crazy when cut, necessitating a lot of repair work on my mitered edges. I’ve had the installer work on the filled areas once and I’m not happy, so he’s coming back next week. The supplier instructed us to paint the subtops a cool white to eliminate the yellowish areas, to no avail. Due to the difficulty cutting the slabs, the seams are not even close to being invisible, because they have a lot of epoxy fill. I expected this would be done in multiple colors, but it was not. Another thing the installer will address next week, and I’ll be right there making sure that several colors are used so that the seams are hidden better. My caution to anyone using this stone is that it’s hard to find because fabricators hate it. The dull spots mentioned in comments above are not etching. What you are seeing is softer and harder parts of the stone itself. The clearer crystal areas are duller. This stone is very, very hard and won’t etch. It’s beautiful in the fact that it’s genuine stone, but there are imperfections in it and you need to anticipate them or buy something else. I have a dime sized very dark spot in a very conspicuous area of my kitchen counter and will just have to learn to love it somehow. If I could turn back time, I would go look at the the denser marbles.

I also have a dark spot on my top that every time i go past it, i think it's dirt. I agree with Sandy K that if I had to do over, I would def look at another stone than the White Princess....

@kkenning did your fabricator have a tough time with your slabs?

My fabricator did not say they had a hard time with our slabs. However, i do see some spots that look like they might have filled it in with epoxy.

I’m having a lot of those little fills replaced this week. The color they used is horrible.

i am having problems with my white princess quartz. On the seams it is cracking. i will have to have a qualified person fix it. i have it in every bathroom and bar area and with no problem. just in the kitchen

An update: so the supplier came to look at the Princess white in my home and he said that the fabricator cut it with the wrong blade and too fast. They ripped through four slabs and my stone was severely damaged by them. They even broke corners off and installed pieces broken into as many as five pieces. Then they filled the chips and cracks with a yellowy white fill that has black debris in it. I had to file a complaint with the state contractors’ board and take other measures to try to recoup the damages this fabricator imposed upon us. Princess White just needs an experienced fabricator, a diamond blade and good technique.

I would not buy it again

Is princess white the same as super white which is a dolomite? (Basically a hard marble-but marble none the less)

I think Super White might be a little more gray than White Princess. I have seen Shadow Storm recently that looks white like marble and has crystals in it. Very pretty......the White Princess has some pale green in it.

Princess White is quartzite, which is a much harder material. It has large chunks of crystals and can be very brittle, making it really difficult to fabricate. It can have small areas of colors such as pink or aqua/turquoise blue. Some large areas of mine are turning a pale green, apparently called “green bloom”. The chips in the edges of my counters were never filled well, and where the seams were uneven, they were ground down, but that removed the shiny finish. I had many other issues and settled out of court for a refund. I’ve had four beautiful new slabs on hold for many months but no install yet thanks to COVID-19. I think I am going to change to another stone. Too many problems with the Princess White and I’m not in love with the stone anymore, my sister-in-law has Danby marble and it’s gorgeous.

Any problems with the Danby marble? We have looked at shadow storm aka Donna Sandra marble & Mont Blanc quartzite. At these stones makes me so nervous with problems with marble and quartzite. But my husband wants a natural stone and there isn’t a granite that’s not busy

I have statuary white marble 2cm in 2 bathrooms and absolutely love it. I just put carrara marble 3cm in a basement bathroom and it is so pretty too. I am careful with the marble in the bathrooms and would love it in the kitchen....someday. :)

Danby marble is supposedly a harder variety of marble but it will still etch. my sister-in-law used it for her island and despite two young children, it still looks perfect a few months later.

Sandy K: I had princess white installed during the pandemic and as a result I was not able to see it (I was renovating the house but not living there). Each top has a VERY large crack in it as well as numerous pits that were filled with a rough fill. I also have some of the green bloom, which I thought was my eyes just tricking me. When I finally saw it in person and complained to my fabricator about the cracks, they came out to "fix them." Whatever they used has turned yellow making the cracks more noticeable. Needless to say, I'm so disappointed in my investment. My fabricator keeps telling me that I should have noticed all of the pitting when I picked the slab. They have also told me that if the fissures cracked during fabrication (which they must have) that they will be filled. My point, I guess, is that I feel like I was mislead. The stone is beautiful but cracks in my brand new countertop, that I can see and feel, is unacceptable. I'm in metro Detroit as well I'm wondering if we might have had the same fabricator? I worked with Great Lakes Granite and Marble.

I am so sorry to hear of your recent white princess install. I would def not give up on the fabricator replacing the countertop. That is what they should do and own up to the crack situation. Do you have any pics you can post? My white princess was not cracked but did turn a pale green in certain spots that were not there on install day. My fabricator said that is the nature of the stone. :(

Hi Elizabeth. I’m so sorry! I picked out four new slabs of the most beautiful Princess White and we were going to start over with a fabricator who has a lot of experience with it.

The slabs have been sitting in Anaheim, CA since last year. First I had to wait on the fabricator for many months, but finally he was ready in February. The pandemic put the plan on hold. Over time, watching what has happened with the existing stone turning more and more green, cracks looking worse....I cancelled. I’m heading to Phoenix today actually, to find new stone. I will take a lot of precautions when the replacement is done, but having a fabricator and installers come all the way from California isn’t reasonable with this pandemic continuing. This diagonal crack was not present (or at least not visible) at installation. Neither was that green.

Large area in bathroom turning green.

that green is exactly how mine looks

After 6 years we don’t have any cracks, etching or green. The white princess looks as good as the day we installed and I was nervous it would get ruined. The fabricator was good and they had us take a piece home to test for staining and etching.

I have recently learned that my fabricator does not have experience with princess white. Not a question I thought to ask!

The supplier of my slabs told me the fabricator used the wrong blade. The fabricator said the cutting went fine but the fabrication made crystals pop out. They tried to fill but the stone was ruined. The more that was done to it, the worse things became. If you are in SoCal, I can refer you to a fabricator who has done quite a lot of work with it, I think It’s a problematic stone and I’m looking for the right marble slabs now. I will have them treated with More Anti-Etch.

Thank you so much for this great info. I have been determined to find a marble-like quartzite, but after reading about your experience I might just keep trying to find a natural-looking quartz and go with a marble slab backsplash. I really wish I could also go with marble on my island but I'm afraid of the upkeep!

I just purchased Calacatta Gold Vein slabs for my island and I am going to have the More Anti-Etch applied to them. More has a 10 year warranty against staining and etching.

This is what I replaced the Princess White with. I am so pleased with the beauty of this marble! The More Anti-Etch has been applied and I have a ten year warranty against staining and etching.

Gorgeous! You must be thrilled. So happy for you, it's been a long haul!

Does the More Anti-Etch make the marble appear honed? Does it feel different to the touch? It's really beautiful.

I am thrilled!!! You can have a honed or polished surface with the More application, and mine is honed. It feels silky smooth!!

That looks so amazing.....congrats on your new marble!

Sandy, I am considering princess white. What fabricator did you use. I live in T.O. , California

Mine was done in Arizona. It was shipped here from a supplier in Anaheim. I would ask to see another job with that same stone in person to see how well your fabricator has done with it. However, that won’t stop it from developing cracks and “green bloom”.

Hello everyone, I am considering Princess white and using Preferred Granite and Marble as installer. But after reading this I am very concerned about using this for my kitchen, anyone have it installed by them, problems =, issues?

I’d recommend against it. When it’s being fabricated the crystals pop out. Then the edge must be filled, and fill materials don’t look like stone. Then areas turn green. Ive heard this being blamed on the glue used on the slabs but mine turned green in random areas. I did see one island done in a leathered finish that looked okay, but then you lose the shine of any crystals. If you still want this material, have Preferred show you in person some previous jobs they used it on.

I have had white princess quartzite for over 6 years. The fabricator did not have any problems cutting the stone but they knew how to work with quartzite. It has held up great.

I have Princess white quartzite that was installed with kitchen remodel 4 years ago. I LOVE it so gorgeous and I get so many compliments. Zero issues with pitting or discoloring. I searched for a few months and saw all types of quality with this stone. So I would say be careful and make sure you buy from a reputable company because some businesses try to sell stone that is not actually Princess or not as nice of a slab.

Karen, please show us some photos. They’re pretty much impossible to find!

Sandy K- How is the More Anti-etch finish holding up on your marble countertops? Would you recommend it?

It’s holding up perfectly. No stains and no etching. It has a 10 year warranty, so it’s performing as expected.

I've had White Princess quartzite on our kitchen island for 2 1/2 years. Yesterday was the the first time I have had it resealed. There is some etching, which the sealer expert thinks is due to calcium from the stone reacting to something (acidic cleaners and food spills). However, I have no stains and I can live with the etching since it is only visible from certain angles in certain lights. The stone is gorgeous and I am happy with it.

Nprcal mom, can you share photos? Id love to see your stone since quartzite doesnt etch and many think that Super White is quartzite when it is actually dolomite. a lot of yards mislabel it.

Sandy - hello! I’m so nervous as I’m about to apply the more anti etch to my beautiful piece of book matched panda marble on a an 11 foot island. Thank you for sharing as your post has given me more piece of mind! I’ve always lived on my Italian honed marble countertops and enjoyed the patina; however this new home build / project, I wanted a modern design and this panda does the trick. I’ve never used panda and do not know how it holds up plus I don’t want the patina look unless I just have to - hence I’m jumping in and trying MORE. My applicator just sanded it down on Friday and let me know today that the shipment of sealer has not arrived yet. Oops. So here I am surfing for more reviews to make sure it’s what we want to do. I can easily have her hone it at this point since she has sanded off the polish. The panda has crystals and sparkles and this will be toned down I think with the MORE product; however I think it’s worth it as the design is so elaborate, and we will be able to enjoy it and live life on it.

Questions for you due to some negative reviews:

1. scratching. I’ve read some reviews that it scratches easily. My applicator says it scratches the same as marble. What is your experience with this? Do you feel it scratches more than normal or what is to be expected ?
2. someone said theirs turned yellow. How long have you had yours ? My applicator said it can turn yellow but only if in direct sunlight all day. She is not at all worried about this for my kitchen
3. Honed - I don’t like the high shine and look forward to seeing the honed finish as a starting point at polish time. Glad you like the finished look of MORE honed.
4. do you still like to touch the countertop even with the MORE on it? I love tapping my fingernails on the marble and hope it still has the stone feel. Does it ?
5. mine is a waterfall and my last concern is where the two areas meet - the sides will not be treated with MORE of course. She said it will look fine.
6. my applicator said the near thing about MORE is that it follows the lines of the veins and fits and molds to the stone.

Your post has made me feel so much better! Please comment on my concerns if you see this.

I haven’t found many reviews on MORE and have been a bit nervous. Im sure many who love it probably don’t say anything. The positive is not often discussed - only the negative.
Thank you !
Stephanie