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BTW, Calacutta marble is enormously hugely expensive. However, Carrara marble is not much more costly than middle-of-the-road granite depending where you buy from.

Without seeing your pictures, when I Google Montebello marble (not Montbello, which struck me as a typo), this page came up,

https://colonialmarble.net/products/madreperola/

which describes it as Madreperola, which I've also seen written as Madre Perola, quartzite from Brazil. Does the photo on that web page look like your counters?

This webpage,

https://www.marbleoftheworld.com/index.php/madreperola.html

also calls it a quartzite and describes it as having "crystalline" accents. It's also known as "Mother of Pearl" quartzite.

IIRC, some GardenWeb kitchens have it, I think maybe pipdog?

BTW, Calacutta marble is enormously hugely expensive. However, Carrara marble is not much more costly than middle-of-the-road granite depending where you buy from.

This. Calacatta marble was beyond our budget, but we found Carrara marble to be comparable to, and even less than, some granites.

Thanks all! I am kicking myself for not utilizing this site sooner. Let me give this another shot without kiddos running around.

Josie23 the "glitter" was NOT evident at the stone yard and beckysharp your typo assumption is correct. Here is the link from the stone yard's site: https://www.stonemartmarblegranite.com/portfolio-item/montebello-marble/

I am not questioning if the correct slabs were installed. It definitely looks like the slabs we selected. The "glitter" just was evident until installed. I am, however, questioning if the stone is actually marble.

I am disappointed to hear Carrara marble could have been an affordable option. The pricing with the builder doesn't seem to have a lot of rhyme or reason. They state their groups/levels vary from what is marked at the stone yard. The highest level we priced was 11. I can't remember the exact number, but Carrara marble higher.

Pricing to upgrade from level 1 granite:

American Soapstone Granite (Level 3): $2187

Concrete Natural Honed (Level 4): $3341

Montebello (Level 4): $4270

Super White (my husbands pick, a quartzite I think) (Level 11): $5670

Katie, the GardenWeb Kitchen forum members with Madre Perola counters were (are) very happy with their choices, fwiw.

A lot of times, builders' pricing can be wonky. Also, it's not uncommon for builders and kitchen designers and cabinet companies to try to steer customers away from marble, because of its perceived (vs actual) disadvantages; some might try to do that by raising the price, to make it a less appealing choice.

What color are your cabinets?

I like that your five-year-old loves the countertops : ) .

Right! I wish I was as enthusiastic about them. We did get the go with quartz over marble spiel. We loved the marble and were happy going that route.....until we saw it installed.

Do you think our counters are 'Madre Perola' (attempting to post another photo -- looks like only one loaded)? If so, it's good to hear others are happy with them. Clearly, I am clueless. Is that marble? Our cabinets are white.

The picture you posted definitely looks like marble.

Do you think our counters are 'Madre Perola' (attempting to post another photo -- looks like only one loaded)?

I don't know enough about Madre Perola/Mother of Pearl, and can't tell much from the one photo. And even with better photos I don't think I would trust myself to ID a stone via a screen, it's just not my area of expertise. But it is karin_mt's. She's written a great series of posts on Countertop Geology that might be helpful,

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2499581/marble-quartzite-and-other-rocks-in-the-kitchen?n=158

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2674142/countertop-geology-marble-and-quartzite-and-granite-part-4?n=4

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2438427/countertop-geology-part-5-marble-quartzite-and-other-favorites?n=160

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/2692150/countertop-geology-part-six-lets-talk-about-rocks-some-more?n=578

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/4426353/the-definitive-guide-to-quartzite#n=59

To post pictures, they must be jpgs.

If you love it, and it suits its purpose, what does it matter what label it wears? It’s likely to not be correct anyway, with the way made up names and misattributed geological classification dominate the market.

Marble can definitely have a glittery look if the calcite crystals are large. Calcite crystals have flat, regular faces that reflect light and give a glittery effect.

For an example, see the first photo under 'calcite' (near the bottom of the article)

https://usenaturalstone.org/know-your-minerals/

Marble can also contain layers of graphite or mica which are darker color and can also impart a sparkly look.

Hope that helps!

KARIN!!!! Nice to "see" you!

Nice to see you too EAM! :)

I haven't been around as much, but still pop in to scan for rock questions when I can.