The slab above is prettier in person. This stone does not seem to photograph well. Here is Taj Mahal Venatino.

I think I saw 12 samples of "Taj Mahal", until I realized that some were really Perla Venata or Madre Perla or something by another name. The last sample is not any kind of Taj Mahal, but I've seen it in gray/white and butterscothch/white. Every place called it a quartzite, and it was expensive. I've known KD who love this stone.

i ended up going with a quartzite that fit my scheme better, but I came to love Madre Perla even more than Taj Mahal. So, as a novice, look and look elsewhere, and you will begin to differentiate between slabs. You will see the differences between the veins and movement, and the depth. I think it is gorgeous.

GWers packergirl and ratrem both used Taj Mahal in the kitchens.
I linked ratrem's. You should be able to find packergirls by doing a google search with the terms packergirl and Taj Mahal.
Both of their kitchens are great

Here is a link that might be useful: Taj Mahal kitchen

Peke has sea pearl in her kitchen. It is gorgeous!

That is a really pretty piece of Sea Pearl! I chose it for my kitchen and Peke has it too. Good luck with you search.

In my experience Madre Perla is more green than Taj Mahal. Both are beautiful.

Good to know others are using this stone as well! It is so dificult not to get hung up on stone names. I went into one stone yard and Madre Perla, Taj Mahal, Monte Carlo and Sea Pearl were considered under the Madre Perla umbrella so to speak.

Gigi- Your kitchen is so pretty! Off topic question- do you have a white stove behind that sweet island of yours? I am concerned about this stone being labeled a quartzite but actually being marble. I took a piece of glass with me to the stoneyards but the sea pearl edges are wrapped in a protective hard plastic material so I was not able to conduct the GW scratch test. Bummer. How has your experience been with this stone?

Sparklebread,
I have a cooktop and a wall oven, with convection/ microwave above that.

I never was able to test my actual slab beforehand, so I was taking somewhat of a educated chance. I contacted 2 people who had it in their kitchens, one here and one through Pinterest. Both reported they had no etching. I received a couple of samples from other stone yards. I tested those. There was some staining, but no etching. When my countertop finally went in, I took a piece of the little backsplash and poured lots of things on it. It was sealed, so no stains, no etches. We are not using the kitchen yet, so I don't have anything to report on everyday use.

That stone is gorgeous!! I just looked at a slab of that today, along with sea pearl, calacatta, and superwhite. I too have concerns about its durability but my stone yard also claims that it is very durable. I guess if you love it enough, take the chance and trust what they are telling us! I think I might:)

Hi, we have Taj Mahal, been using it for about 4 months. I absolutely love it! My kitchen gets a lot of use. We havenâÂÂt had any problems with staining, rings or etching and weâÂÂve tried tomato sauce, lemon, wine. We saw another stone that was very similar, Perla Venato. We went to quite a few yards and the Taj Mahal varied quite a bit, some were darker with more brown, some with rusty orange. Ours is on the lighter side. We also saw Madre Perla, which in my opinion had more grays than browns.

That slab of Sea Pearl is gorgeous!

Thank you everyone for your encouragement! I forgot my cabinet sample when I visited the stoneyard, so I need to go back before I make a final decision. (Tuesday) Using SW Alabaster. Sure hope they play nice together!