(in Austin Powers voice)....yeah, baby!!!

Really nice! What's it called?

It's beautiful- almost like a cross between BA and a delicatus

Love it! It's perfect! Exciting and dramatic, but not so dramatic that it shouldn't be cut for a counter. Congrats!

Beautiful! What color cabinets, flooring and appliances do you plan to use?

Beautiful! What color cabinets, flooring and appliances do you plan to use?

It's gorgeous!!!! Congratulations--can't wait to see it installed!!!

debrak - our fabricator called it Diamond Leather. The tag on the side from the supplier called it Crema Typhoon Leather. It looks extremely close to what I would expect BA or White Delicatus to look like if it were leathered (although I can't say I have seen either of those leathered IRL). Not surprisingly, BA and White Delicatus (aka Delicatus Perla) were on our short list prior to finding this one.

Secondhalf - yup, we seemed to be pretty consistent with what we were liking when we were out looking. We kept seeing BA and saying "if only it didn't have quite so much red". This doesn't have the red. There is a tinge more of a yellow undertone to the creamy areas than what we were looking for, but the leathered finish really took us in.

Ginny - thanks! You know just what to say. :)

phoggie - we have 65-ish year old red oak floors in our house. We'll be placing new red oak in the kitchen and refinishing the floors in a dark stain (leaning toward a mix of a satin & semi-gloss finish using an ebony and/or jacobean stain). Our cabinets are going to be cherry and it's likely that they will be dark as well, but not so dark as to hide the characteristics of the cherry wood. We will have stainless appliances (though the induction cooktop is mostly black) with a glass and stainless exhaust hood. Backsplash is pending, but leaning toward a white glass, assuming it will be the right color to compliment the granite. Our hope is to come up with a transitional/contemporary, casual-elegance, comfortable space. Really hoping we can pull it off!

Ohhhh... I LOVE! It must be spectacular in person!

Gorgeous!

Wow. Very pretty granite! Love it!

ooh baby ooh baby ooh: that is too too good. well done

ohhhh la la !!! cant wait to see the rest!

That's really lovely. It looks like a glacier!

Love, love your granite!

I think you did capture it pretty well for us to be swooning.

Way to get stoned! Lovely and can't wait to see it installed!

Gorgeous! Where are you located? Do they have any more?!?

That stone is great. Where did you get your list of fabricators and stone yards?

To everyone that I haven't responded to personally - thank you for taking the time to look and comment. :)

legallin - we're in western PA. The fabricator is about an hour north of Pittsburgh. Our fabricator had just two slabs of it in her shop (we're using a whole slab and 1/3 of the other), and she brought it in from a supplier that isn't one of the local shops here (we have 3 decent sized ones in the 'Burgh)...she tries to get some things that not everyone else has. I know she has installed the standard shiny version of our stone, but it sounds like this is the first that she's had the leathered version. There's a good chance that she could get more if you are nearby and are interested in it.

marti9a - we started our search early this year - one place had a billboard up that I went past and that was our first fabricator. They had a few slabs and sent us to one of the stone yards to look at more. We then went to a home show early this year and picked up a lot of info there on some fabricators. When talking with them, they mentioned the other stone yards that are local. We also are members of Angie's List, so we looked a little bit on there. And I did a general search online. Some places we ruled out from their website - feeling that if they didn't have at least a passable website, it was likely that they weren't investing a lot in up-to-date equipment. We went to one of the "big guy" fabricators and were completely turned off. We felt that the big box stores weren't the right fit for us because we hoped to find someone who is a smaller business so that we can support our local-ish economy.

We found that there are some out there who are not only willing, but almost eager, to throw their competitors under the bus, which doesn't fly with us. Please tell me why YOU are BETTER, not why your competition is worse.

If you get the names of a stone yard, don't be afraid to call them and ask them for suggestions on fabricators...some are more forthcoming than others on suggestions as to who to call and avoid, but if you listen carefully, you can get some clues as to who they have heard good things about. And vice versa, ask a fabricator if they have local stone yards where they pull stone from. Most of them leveled with us as to who sourced them.

We spent many hours online, on the phone, and in person digging around. We hope that our research pays off and that we are as delighted with our fabricator when our stone goes in as what we are with finding the right piece.

Andreak100, I love the counters you picked out! I love the leathered look! Thank you for sharing.

Andreak100, breathtakingly beautiful!! Hoping it all goes well for you. We will have similar cabinets and floors-so I will keep this beauty in my mind when we go shopping for stone. Aren't you glad to have found the ONE!

Just realized this thread is two yrs old! Andreak, glad it all worked out for you and you are loving it.

Thank you for looking, Lynn. I didn't realize how much the leathering would add to the overall look of the kitchen - when the stone was upright, you could feel the textural differences...but it wasn't until install that we realized exactly how much it added.

Vinudev - thank you for commenting. Sadly enough, even though this thread is almost 2 years old, we are just now getting our kitchen finished (they didn't start until December of 2013!!! Long, painful story, but needless to say, it was a lot longer getting this beautiful stone in our kitchen than we ever anticipated! I'm extremely grateful that our fabricator was exceedingly patient in holding our slabs for us longer than I could have ever imagined needing to wait.