The marble look, without marble's soft spot.

Why quartzite gets requested by name

Quartzite is natural stone — quarried, not manufactured — and it's one of the hardest materials used for countertops, harder than granite. It often carries the soft, veined look people fall in love with in marble, which is exactly why it gets picked by homeowners who want that look on a surface that can handle daily kitchen use.

What most people aren't told: quartzite is easily confused with quartz — they are not the same material. Quartzite is 100% natural stone; quartz is engineered from crushed stone and resin. The market also mislabels this one a lot: some slabs sold as "quartzite" at a lower price point are actually a softer dolomitic marble, not true quartzite. A quick way to tell is a glass-scratch test — true quartzite will scratch glass, dolomitic marble usually won't. And despite being harder than granite, quartzite still has some porosity and should be sealed periodically.