I have a honed black granite in our basement bar. (when we purchased it they called it "leathered"). My friend had honed black granite in her former house. I spent a lot of time there -- and in neither of these spaces do I feel that there was an issue with fingerprints.

We plan to use a black honed quartz by Diresco -

I've never used quartz, nor do I have any friends who have it. (most have granite or marble) I've done a little research and haven't found any complaints on it.

Sorry I can't personally speak for it. (yet!)

Thanks so much for your help! :) It's nice that these quartz manufacturers are starting to offer honed products now! Can I ask why you decided on honed quartz rather than honed granite?

When I researched this it seems like those problems can definitely occur especially if you have pure black countertops w little movement. People who have honed Absolute Black notice fingerprints but those w Virginia/Jet Mist seemed to not have those issues. Have you thought of soapstone at all? That's what we have and we love it!

eplumeng- Thanks for the thoughts...my inspiration is soapstone! :) It's just not something that would fit our lifestyle, though... don't want a high maintenance product to add to our already crazy life! ;)

What you get on black Silestone when you leave the red protector next to the sink edge.

The coffee maker sat here.

Hot pot on black granite. I hid the crack, but no fixin' this. It's a tear-out.

I've had granite in my kitchen for years - and there's nothing wrong with it… In 10 years, I've never sealed it - and I often put hot cookie sheets and pots directly on it (although that's a no-no)

In my area, it seems that more people are moving to quartz when re-doing or building kitchens and bathrooms.

I've been told that quartz is "better" as far as wear and tear go -- no staining, doesn't need sealing - that sort of thing.

We are doing one color for the perimeter (black honed) and a marble-like quartz for the island.

When it comes down to it, I just wanted a change. Plus, I really liked the sample of the velvet quartz. (honestly, I didn't even look at any granite)

I did consider soapstone - and if it were the same price as the quartz, I would have used it. But it came in about 70% more.

I thought that honed black quartz was problematic. I believe that Caesarstone stopped offering honed Raven because of fingerprints and oils. Quartz has a lower sheen than granite so you might be okay with buying a black or charcoal gray that isn't honed.

I think the prettiest soapstone substitute is honed Virginia Mist granite.

Joseph- that 's crazy! That's not the norm, is it?!

Mayflowers- I had heard that, too... that many quartz manufacturers were moving away from the "honed" or "sueded" finishes because it was causing so many problems with customers. I'd love to get ahold of a honed quartz sample and see how it wears.

"Joseph- that 's crazy! That's not the norm, is it?!"

Darker colors show more things, no matter the material. I was amazed that a coffeemaker could discolor black Silestone, but that's not a Photoshoped picture. Granite damage from heat is rare, but it happens. A local pizza joint just had all their black granite replaced recently, several hundred square feet, from heat lamp cracking. The fools put the same thing back in; shoulda went sintered.

Frey - My current granite is polished. I have been super happy with it the past 10 years. Initially we were going to keep the granite and just paint the cabinets, but then the project morphed into something bigger. So we are doing all new countertops.

Funnily enough, in my search for an alternative to soapstone, I came across Virginia Mist and Raven - both a honed granite.

Here are photos of the slabs from our stone supplier:

http://www.tmsupply.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=660

http://www.tmsupply.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=2831

We are going to the showroom Friday to look at these and compare to the Diresco Velvet Quartz. I wouldn't be surprised if we went back to the granite for the perimeter and quartz for the island.

Here is the quartz for the island:

http://www.tmsupply.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=7186

What color cabinetry are you doing?