Both these colors are made in china, but don't be totally taken back by that. The important thing with both brands is to check what sort of certifications each offer...there are many off brand Chinese quartz materials that do not have any certifications and may potentially have the issues that @mayflowers brought up above. I have worked with Titan Quartz many times for my clients kitchens (islands and countertops) and the calacatta venezia is a great option. This color is NSF, IAS, and SGC certified so I've been confident recommending it to my clients (plus it has a nice residential warranty).

@Beth H. - thank you for your comments. I don't think we want to have dark counter tops. The kitchen is open to our family room. The minimal wall space in the kitchen will be painted a light blue color, as will the walls in the family room. We were thinking about: a) white cabinets and island b) the Calacatta gold marble 3" x 6" tiles for the back splash c) light(ish) counter tops on the perimeter and island (perhaps with some grey coming through d) medium brown hardwood floors We thought about using walnut for the island surface, but decided against it due to maintenance issues. If we didn't want to have dark counter tops, are there any other options? Thanks!

We had high end quartzite quoted at $138/sq ft installed. This one was considered exotic or 5-star, Level 5. (Slab yards use their own method of scaling the stones' costs.) Other stones that were considered 4-star, Level 4, were quoted at $108/sq ft installed. The cheapest stone was $80-something for 3-star, Level 3. We went to a slab yard in Charlotte, NC, that had amazing man-made counter materials that did a great job of replicating marble. Those slabs were 5-star or higher - seems crazy that man-made material is more expensive than stone hauled from all over the world. It was explained to us that demand/supply has a big impact on stone. What may seem an exotic quartzite may be fairly reasonable because of supply/demand. These prices get you the part of the slab/slabs needed for your job. Any stone not used on your job becomes the fabricator's remnants. If we go to the fabricator's slab remnant yard and choose from there, all remnants are considered Level I. I don't have a price for Level I. Stone pricing is not transparent. We found it difficult to balance what we like versus our budget. (We are doing a custom build so there is no allowance - what we choose is what we pay for.) The slab yards don't give the consumer the price, only the fabricator quotes prices, and only for "installed per square foot". So all you know at the slab yard is a relative price. The slab yard emails the fabricator with your choices, he then quotes the installed price. From the plans, the fabricator determines how many square feet of stone is needed for your project. We shopped for stone very early in the process. I was told most people choose stone after the cabinets go in. The fabricator thought we were a bit odd in wanting to choose so early. This information may not be what you need/want,...welcome to the world of stone pricing! Good luck with your search! (I tried your email link but the email didn't open with your address - just the kind of "share this" email link)

Thank you CW. I have decided against the leathered look. The beach house photo in my original post does not looked leathered like some of these other photos I am seeing. I believe that kitchen counter description is wrong. By the way, I am OCD and was not offended by your statement. Finger prints would bother me, too! I prefer to think that I am OTT... Over the Top when it comes to perfection. Anyway, the topic is Off topic. ;)