I recently traveled to Italy to see first hand why we are experiencing a shortage of the popular stone Calacatta Gold. The Carrara area of Italy offers several white marbles using the name Calacatta, but there is only one exclusive Calacatta Gold (or Oro), the most desired. After a couple of days relaxing in the Cinque Terre area we met on Tuesday with the quarry owners. We piled in to a small Fiat for a race to the top of the mountain outside of Carrara. We saw first hand that the section of the quarry where the block was being cut was yielding only 1 high quality block per every 30 cut. They needed to turn the corner to get back to the section they know consistently produces the excellent quality that is sought after all over the world. The estimation was March, 2012 before this will occur, meaning there will be a shortage until summer.
After seeing this situation we traveled to our top suppliers in search of some material that would satisfy our needs through March. We not only purchased three bundles (30 slabs) of the Calacatta Gold, but also many other white stones while in Carrara, including two very interesting linear patterned marbles from the Calacatta Gold quarry called Zebrino.
After our buying spree in Carrara of some four containers we headed to the beautiful and vibrant city of Verona. There we met with three suppliers of mainly granite. Of special note, I purchased sandstone in slab form and tiles called Pietra Serena, a very clean and consistent grey stone commonly used inItaly as door and window casings. Another special find is a limestone called London Fog, a cool pale grey-green stone. Our last night was spent in Milan visiting the beautiful and restored Duomo Il Milano, the magnificent Italian marble cathedral that took over 5 centuries to complete.
Over the months of December and January we will be receiving these exciting new materials into our showroom. Make your plans to come see them soon!
Posted by Architectural Tile & Stone | Filed under Stone