Natural stone from the great quarries of the world. Every specimen in our world-class assortment of natural stone is obtained the same way: hewn from the great quarries of the world. Natural stone products may seem perfectly at home in finer houses, stores, and commercial buildings. But the process that got it there was certainly a long, complex one, full of hard work, masterful engineering, and skilled craftsmanship. After all, what is now a polished countertop, a richly colored tile, or any high-quality architectural feature used to be a gigantic chunk of rock. The first step to finding a perfect slab is identifying the right mineral deposit. Typically, it’s a cliff face or rocky outcropping, where its color and condition can be identified with the naked eye. Large core samples, many feet deep, are taken to identify the composition far underground. If the deposit is suitable for architectural materials, the cores are polished to examine color, pattern, and of course, marketability.