I do see what you are saying how it is blending nicely with the counter and then the seam turns white just about where the pencil is. I don't see any saw marks, but hard see that closely in photos. Can't they just fix the color in that section?

That looks like Caesarstone Buttermilk. Here is my seam on a similar quartz and the machine they used to pull the two pieces tightly together, which I think is key for getting a tight seam. There are no chips. That seam is okay for granite but not for a fine-grained quartz.

Photos were taken with professional camera equipment and lighting, so this is how it looks IRL.

Thank you all. May_flowers- you know your buttermilk. That's exactly what it is. I'll take some photos with my 5d for comparison but I can say that the seam on my countertop does not look at nice as yours. Well, to be more precise, it does look like that towards the front, but towards the back it is wider with a distinct line of white adhesive. There is also a subtle ripple in the rear, which I recognize as being a chattering saw (at least it would be were it wood).

Your pictures were immensely helpful and confirmed that I'm not crazy. Thanks to all of you.

In my last photo, that's Buttermilk. They cleaned the epoxy off with Barkeeper's Friend and dulled the surface. We replaced it with Pental Botticino for a few reasons. So we've had two seams on this type of quartz and both were nearly invisible. I will say that the second seam was a little better color-matched because their top fabricator did it.

I'm hoping it's just the smaller chopped piece that's going to need to be recut. At this point I am planning to have them address it.

Based on the pictures, it would seem to meet the MIA standards. You are examining it a bit too close up, IMHO.

Live wire oak; thanks for the response. While you didn't necessarily see it the same way I did, you gave me a good idea... look at the ceasarstone specs. I checked and they use the same 1/16 standard. By my calipers they are just outside that limit, but honest folks could differ on my reading.

I found a more important section, however. It states, "Caesarstone requires the use of colored glue on all seams," and goes on to specify a color to be used with buttermilk slab. The glue used is a pure white, and clearly not tinted.

I think in the end I will let them try to re-glue it. We'll still have to see about the chipping from the chattering saw. If it's less visible with the right glue I'll probably just let it go.

Really hard to see the seam. But why is it there? Was the seam disclosed in advance? All questions for the contractor. Context matters unless you have a money tree in your backyard. :)

There was no discussion of the seam in advance, though I expected one to be there. To the left of the picture is a large island and I don't think they would have been able to use a single slab. There is an inside corner there and so it's not a terrible place for the seam.

My concern is that a bright white seam shows up distinctly against a tan countertop. I'm starting to focus less on the size of the seam, though and more on the color of the glue. I believe that a tinted glue may be the only fix needed.