Elkay sinks tend to have more of a grainy or grooved looking finish to them. Have you logged onto their web site? I believe they actually list a description of their finishes. Most decorative plumbing showrooms have Elkay on display. Call around so you can actually see in person. Now as for matching your faucet to your sink or to the rest of the kitchen, I would match the faucet with your accessories (cabinet hardware). It's a much richer look if your faucet, soap dispenser, air gap and whatever sink top items you have will blend in with the rest of the kitchen. Do you have stainless appliances as well? Carleen

Misslivvy - Both Blanco and Elkay are very well established companies that stand behind their products. Knowing that's the case, there are three specific things I would want if it were my sink. #1 - A noisy sink (from running water or the clattering of dishes) bugs me, so I'd want to know what's on the underside of the sink to absorb the sound. #2 - I once broke a wine glass when it fell over in my old sink. That's when I found out the hard way the not all stainless steel sinks have perfectly flat bottoms. The angle on the bottom of my sink made it impossible for my good wine glasses to stand upright. Won't make that mistake again. #3 - This isn't a big deal to everyone, but for me, I like to know I'm spending on products that are made in America. Here are links to the spec sheets on the 2 specifc models you mentioned. The Elkay sink says it has their sound-deadening material on the underside, but the Blanco spec doesn't mention sound deadening so I'm not sure what it has. Both spec sheets show side view diagrams. Looks like both have a bit of an angle to the bottom, but the Blanco sink is definitely drawn so that it doesn't look as level as the Elkay. Finally, the Elkay spec sheet does say this model is Made in USA, but the Blanco spec doesn't say where it was made. I'd go with the Elkay. Hope this helps. Good luck. http://www.elkayusa.com/cps/rde/xbcr/elkay/01-110G_ELU(H)2816.pdf http://www.blancoamerica.com/inter/kt/HeilerPPMKatalog/hlr-system/USA/Sinks_Bowls/BLANCOSTELLAR_Super_Single_Bowl/Spec_Page/441024.pdf

Hi Breezy -- FWIW it may be worth asking around a little more about this. It may be so, but I'm worried this may be a little embellishment on a past, finite problem. I think -- at least so I've gathered from a few unrelated sources - that at first both silgranite and e-granite had trouble cracking during shipping. I gather both are better now than formerly, but silgranite got better before e-granite. I don't know if that's just familiarity with shipping-type problems that they've been able to mitigate now that things are better understood, or whether they've actually literally reformulated. I guess I've been led to believe the latter, that things are now literally different from how they were a couple years ago. Someone I spoke with today said that until a year ago or so e-granite still had some trouble, sometimes, shipping; silgranite until a couple years ago. But now both companies -- he claimed -- are comparable. Again, the recommendation to inspect with a flashlight before installation for cracks. Again I heard that once installed, the sinks are utterly durable. I heard claimed this was so for both brands. Whether there's more involved in the long term that distinguishes the brands, or whether the distinction is due to a now largely-irrelevent shipping issue (due to material improvement first by Blanco, then Elkay), I can't say. But it's possible you can have both sinks with impunity. That's one problem with judging solely from reports of problems -- there can be a cohort of products susceptible to problems, that later (or earlier) cohorts didn't exhibit. It's tricky to pick away the time-component.

Thanks everyone for your responses. We need to get a sink quickly and we've been between a couple Elkays at Home Depot or a couple Frankes at Lowes. But then there's one one Amazon that's a lot more expensive but gets all 5 star reviews. Here's the high maintenance Elkay we were ready to go with: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Elkay-Innermost-Perfect-Drain-Dual-Mount-Stainless-Steel-33-in-2-Hole-Double-Bowl-Kitchen-Sink-HD523637/203247480 Here's the Franke: http://www.lowes.com/pd_625016-1475-FBSLG904-18BX_1z0u60sZ1z0u6h1Z1z10rmgZ1z11wwyZ1z1291fZ1z0u6mb__?productId=50277411&pl=1 wish it were USA made. Here's the Amazon one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DSRQF2E/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2II6WIQ6PY8BS&coliid=I1LV7YSDCVJHUB There's also this one, but I'm not crazy about zero radius for our traditional home: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007DQ1Z4O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2II6WIQ6PY8BS&coliid=I2647ZUUFXPD04&psc=1 Many have recommended Kraus, but the only top mount I've foun is only 25 inches. Have no idea what it would be like to go from 33 down to 25. Except that we'd get more counter space. I really appreciate any/all help! Celine