We wanted a matte black or gray counter surface and originally thought we wanted honed AB. After some reading about various problems with AB we started looking at honed Caesarstone (even the regular CS was too shiny for us!). Raven was our favorite. We got samples and found that, while it didn't seem to stain, oily spots and fingerprints were a problem.

Then I discovered this forum and it's legion of soapstone lovers. We went and looked at soapstone and loved it. It was about the same price as the CS with none of the drawbacks. And we loved that it was a natural stone. Four years later we're more than happy with our choice.

I am putting Raven on a high gloss grey cabinet and expect it to be installed within a week. Since I don't have it yet I can't really say if fingerprints will be a problem. I also have soapstone on my white kitchen island. Love the soapstone! I saw leathered peribonka granite in a showroom and really liked that look too. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these choices.

Have you looked at local stone yards? There are lots of honed or textured black granites that are easier mainenance than AB. I just looked at honed Atlantic Black a couple weeks ago and it was more a dark gray.

I would also like a charcoal gray countertop that isn't polished, and I've looked at Raven, but I don't think it's going to do it for me. From a distance most honed or textured black granites will look very similar to Raven, but when you get close up almost all will be more interesting than Raven. If I find a nice slab of marron cohiba leather I will probably go with that. It's technically supposed to be brown-black, but many slabs just look black to me.

Good luck!

I have Raven, and I love it. It doesn't look "fake" to me because I prefer the more contemporary, less busy look of quartz, and I like the sheen - it's muted, but still evident. I don't notice fingerprints on it unless they're greasy fingerprints, and it is pretty much bombproof - I know, because it seems like my husband and I try to wreck it nightly. I had an accident with chalkboard paint on it last week, whoops! :O)

I have cream cabinets, light grey walls and a marble backsplash, and I'm really happy with my choice. Sorry, I don't have photos yet because we still have some finishing details to complete - the Barefoot Contessa's kitchen is done in Raven; you might look at it.

Bobby99 makes some good points. I have Lagos Blue in my kitchen but I almost got Raven. I like the gray look more than the dark black. I get compliments all the time, never thought it looked 'fake' but it is definitely more contemporary than granite which I wanted.

Lagos blue isn't as dark but does get some smudges and fingerprints sometimes (how can it not? my kitchen isn't a museum!) but yeah all I use is a little bit of SoftScrub and it goes a long way.

Saw some pictures of Raven in an older thread. Link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Raven Pics

Have you seen Cambrian Black granite? I have it brushed onmy island and hutch. I love it.

I guess I'l be the one who hasn't had any maintenance issues with honed AB. I love it! And I don't baby it, either.

Like you, I wanted a not-shiny dark stone: my first choice was slate, but I was told it cracks, flakes, sheds - I can't even remember all the things it does, the saleswoman scared me off it so fast!

Didn't want marble. Didn't want synthetic. Liked the reasonable price of granite. Read all the reviews here on GW that said it shows every fingerprint and watermark and fleck of dust... but this simply hasn't been true for us.

We have it on our sink run and our deep sink splashes plenty. We mop up the water after doing the dishes - but I wouldn't call that a maintenance nightmare... I would mop up water or spills on ANY counter...

Not sure why AB gets a bad rep - I think it looks sharp, we have had ZERO problems. Now, I wish I could say the same about my wood island top....

This isn't a great picture, but since you asked:

Here's a better picture of how the honed AB granite looks with wood floor and white cabs:

I have the Ocean Blue Caesarstone and love it! My cabinets are white (BM Marscapone) and my floor is Walnut. I tried to copy Ina Garten's look on a smaller budget with the blue (she has a really high end blue counter). Marble subway tiles are the backsplash - the gray veins pick up the dark blue perfectly.