I still love the honed...maybe your fabricator can hone a sample? It really is totally stain resistant and etch-proof if it's really quartzite. I never did regret that I honed the leathered finish.

Firsthouse- yours was leathered when you bought it before you honed it? They have polished and leathered, but not honed. This is DaVinci, by the way. That gives me hope! Yes, I will have my fabricator hone a sample and then test it. I just love that honed finish of marble- does it feel like that even though its quartz? My fabricator says there is a high, medium and low hone. Do you know what is most common? I guess that might be a question for the fabricator.
They have some over at pietra fina as well. It's polished over there.

JAM_SF: earlier in the year IRG in Brisbane had WP -- they had multiple stacks so I don't know if they had any honed. You might give them a call.

Yes, my six slabs from DaVinci were all leathered and I honed them all. Not exactly the cost that I wanted but I gave up other stuff to make sure the counters were exactly what I wanted. I am not a fan of either the polished or the leathered, so I knew I had to have them honed. I am not sure what level I had but I loved them. Never picked up stains or etching. Was really really awesome!

I saw a number of slabs at DaVinci today....was trolling again for slabs. I go back about every month since we are about to start our newest project. Headed to IRG this next week too.

Firsthouse- I was at Da Vinci today as well, maybe we crossed paths! I have seen the slabs at Pietra fina (they had quite a few batches, big and small), and haven't been back to IRG in a few weeks. Let me know what you find- post a pic!
I picked a leathered slab today and put it on hold. I talked to my fabricator since I've heard White Princess is hard to cut and he dropped a bomb....he said he had a job this year where the White Princess had major discoloration that only showed up a month after the counter was done. It was from Da Vinci, and the owner came to the house and gave her a new slab but he had to do the job all over again, which he did at no cost. So Da Vinci gave good customer service, so no complaints there, but is this a fluke? I have literally spent 2 months obsessing over caesarstone, then marble and thought I'd made up my mind and now this. What are your thoughts? Has anyone heard of this? I'm posting a pic from the fabricator. This could have happened to any slab yard, and Da Vinci did right by the customer, just trying to ascertain whether this was a completely isolated incident and I should move forward. If not, it's back to marble....

And one more, on the edge...and he had about 4 more pics. This gives an idea. It was all over!

Weird. That color appeared a month after it was fabricated? My guess in that case would be it's a chemical reaction with the sealer or some other product. It that rock real quartzite? Quartz is inert so that is a real mystery indeed. I would want to scrape down into the rock to see how deep the color goes.

Hi Karin thanks so much for weighing in. This is a slab from da Vinci, a very reputable natural stone dealer in the sf Bay Area, and the same place firsthouse bought her wonderful white princess.
The fabricator uses 511 impregnator sealer. He said it was definately a chemical reaction to whatever they used, but they used nothing out of the ordinary and have had no other problems with other jobs.
I'm leaning towards this is a fluke but with so much time money and research want to make the right decision.

If they are a big dealer and didn't treat this slab any differently than others, and they have not had any other problems then I would say that it is a fluke. Plus, you know that they will stand by you if it happens again, so I would go for it.

If I were the dealer, I would send a sample to a lab and see if I could figure out what happened with the chemical reaction. The yellow/green is kind of a cool color though. It would actually go with the green accents in our kitchen! ;)

I talked with the owner and he assured me that this was the only time it has ever happened and he thinks it was the epoxy they used on the slab (not the slab). He said the fabricator was good, it could have just been a bad batch of epoxy or whatever. I am a bit spooked. Not sure if I'll go ahead...The slab does have a bit more green in it than I would like..doesn't feel as warm as marble.
The salesperson at Da Vinci also told me that it could etch, but she wouldn't give me a sample. I did get a sample from another front desk girl and it passed every test with flying colors, but I don't know if it was from this particular batch of White Princess. Considering that is the only reason I'd be going with WP, that is frustrating. Should I sneak in there with some lemon juice?
He also said you would have to hone it quite a bit since it's leathered to get it smooth.
Firsthouse- if you've been to Da Vinci lately, what is your take on the white princess? It sounds like you might be moving on to marble. Is that because you don't like the slabs these days? I loved yours! I'm attaching a pic, and the greenish/yellowish tinges are not really what I'm after, but I feel like marble would be too much maintenence. I would avoid the big gray blotch on the top. I am so tired of going round and round on this island counter. I have white cabs with pebble caesarstone and a dark island, so I wanted something light and bright. This decision is going to be the death of me! Any input would be appreciated so I can make this decision and be done with it!!

Jam, did you decide on the WP for the island? That slab looks very similar to my slabs.

I put a deposit on the one above but da Vinci has several shipments coming in soon so I plan on checking back before deciding. The one above has more tinges of green than yours- which i didnt want. he has a few shipments coming in, one that is polished but looks more uniform. Not sure if that will be in before I need it though. This one is leathered and although I didn't think I liked it, it's growing on me. I'm sure one of them will be fine. Did you find yours? I stopped looking at other places since I live close by and was spending too much time driving around.