The Name on the Stone Label Doesn’t Tell the Truth
By Frederick M. Hueston
The Label Obsession
Stone restoration contractors spend way too much time trying to figure out the “real” name of whatever stone they’re working on. I see it constantly. Folks get hung up on the label like it came straight from the quarry with a government seal on it. If only life were that tidy. Most of the time that name is whatever the distributor or yard manager thought sounded good that week. Sometimes it’s marketing, sometimes it’s random, and sometimes it’s just someone having fun with a new pen.
How Stones Get Renamed
A slab of classic white Carrara might leave Italy as Carrara, land in Miami as Super White, then show up in a local yard with a fresh name like Bianco Frederico because someone figured it would help sales. That label is not a fact, it’s a suggestion.
Trade Names vs. Reality
Trade names help sell the dream. They do not tell you the whole story about the stone you’re about to grind, hone, polish, or repair. Anyone who has been in this trade long enough has seen the same stone sold under four, five, even ten different names. I’ve also seen one trade name slapped on completely different stones, sometimes across multiple colors. This is normal in our industry.
Why Geology Always Wins
What matters is the geology. Always. If you want to avoid headaches, callbacks, blame games, or that homeowner who insists they “barely touched it,” you need to understand what the stone actually is. Is it marble, limestone, dolomite, serpentinite, granite, quartzite, engineered quartz, or something else entirely? That classification tells you how it will react to acids, heat, diamonds, poultices, resin transfer, or aggressive polishing.
When the Label Leads You Astray
A quartzite mislabeled as granite can ruin your day if you start with the wrong abrasives. A dolomite sold as marble will behave like a confused teenager, a little tough one minute and soft the next. A serpentinite renamed “Green Marble Deluxe” might curl its toes when you hit it with crystallizer. And a homeowner who thinks they bought quartz but actually bought a soft marble will be calling you every time they spill some lemon juice.
What Actually Tells the Truth
When you strip away the marketing and the cute renaming, you’re left with the only thing that tells the truth: the stone itself. The behavior of the stone is your guide.
- Scratch tests
- Acid tests
- UV reactions
- Transparency
- Veining patterns
- Mineral structure
- Brittleness
All of these give you real answers. The label rarely does.
Final Reality Check
So this myth that the name tells you everything falls apart pretty fast. The trade name might help someone feel fancy. It won’t help you decide if you should start with 220 grit or keep the acid cleaners in the truck.
Field Truth
If you want to do this work at a professional level, trust your eyes, your tests, and your experience. The label on the crate is just a suggestion. The stone is the truth.
