LOL! I'm pretty sure that granite was geologically formed way before the creation of Italy or Brazil or China, or even the continents those countries now reside upon. You may prefer to do business with one country over another, but granite is granite. One location might have a deposit that is "prettier" than another, so that may be a reason to choose.

From Wikipedia:
Granite has been intruded into the crust of the Earth during all geologic periods, although much of it is of Precambrian age*. Granitic rock is widely distributed throughout the continental crust and is the most abundant basement rock that underlies the relatively thin sedimentary veneer of the continents.

*roughly 4.5 billion to 4 billion years ago

True Typhoon Bordeaux only comes from Brazil. If the Italians or Chinese are selling it, it's either mislabeled or earned lots of frequent flyer mileage.

However, if you like how it looks, what does it matter what label it carries and where it comes from?

My granite is mined in Brasil, but an Italian company owns the mine, or part of it. So the granite originates in Brasil and is processed in Italy. That's a lot of travel!

thanks for the replies. I wrote the fabricator to clarify and her reply was that "the stone is from Brazil but gets the finishing touches in Italy - she said that her stones that come from Italy have a better finish on them and repel water and staining better than the others"....

she said that her stones that come from Italy have a better finish on them and repel water and staining better than the others"....

Really? if that's the case, it would be because of the sealer they use, which presumably your installer or you can do too. This is sales-speak.

This post was edited by sjhockeyfan on Tue, Jun 3, 14 at 13:29

So the granite has to cross the Atlantic twice just to reach the east coast of the U.S.? Why can't an enterprising Brazilian buy some good Italian equipment and training and cut out the European connection?

"Why can't an enterprising Brazilian buy some good Italian equipment and training and cut out the European connection?"

Very good friend of mine (Brazilian) is one of the larger countertop manufacturers in my area, has a beautiful house in Rio that he vacations at several times throughout the yearâ¦.he has on several occasions tried to do just what you said, according to him it is totally impossible with the way the government is down there to establish any type of manufacturing

He has instead partnered up with a company in Italy to process the Brazilian stone as well as the Italian stones

ajc71, so if I am understanding you correctly, this is possible and the fabricator is not just using a sales pitch? I really hope that is the case bc i really would hate doing business with a place that is not being honest about the stone, process etc...

I have to say they do have the most beautiful typhoon bordeoux we have seen!! :) she also said the finish or whatever it is they do in I taly to the stone makes it look more "high def" and I must admit it really does look exquisite! unless it's the power of suggestion haha! ;)

My understanding is the first finish is put on before it's shipped and the final finish at the fabricators. Some are resined before shipping stateside to fabricators or distributors. It's the resin that can sometimes cause problems if slabs are left in the sun too long they can get a "sunburn" and the resin starts to deteriorate, flake, craze and all manor of degrading of the finish. Not much you can do about it after that except to hone.

Second thing I heard is that even Italy is shipping stone to China to finish. They ship big hunks of stone over there and they cut and finish and ship it back. Lots of jobs in jep because of it in Italy. Please correct if wrong.

Is it that economically advantageous to ship great heavy chunks of stone all over the world?

"Second thing I heard is that even Italy is shipping stone to China to finish. They ship big hunks of stone over there and they cut and finish and ship it back. Lots of jobs in jep because of it in Italy. Please correct if wrong"

I truly hope that is not the case, another thing to question when I am making a purchase for the next project

As far as the quality thing goes, all you need to do is take a look at a high end Italian kitchen cabinet, car, furniture etc...the level of quality in the finishes is second to none (German being a very close second) in my opinion at least

I think if you look up average pay for a factory worker in China compared to say Italy, Germany, USA...it will be pretty obvious that it is a huge economic advantage to ship things to China to have them processed.

@linelle ~Apparently so. I was trying to find that article for you but it appears to be gone from the site. I'll try to find it, very interesting.

I used Typhoon Bordeaux in my just-completed kitchen renovation. I was told it's from Brazil and there was never a mention of Italy. An additional protective sealer called STAIN-PROOF PLUS by the Dry Treat Company was applied by the granite fabricator prior to the installation of my granite. If you'd like to see it in my kitchen, it's here: http://www.houzz.com/projects/553165/Open-Concept-Kitchen-and-Living-In-West-Chester--PA

msbrandywinevalley - that is a lovely Typhoon Bordeaux!