The Whites

When we think about marble, 99 times out of 100 the first color to come to our mind is white. This is even more true when we think of Italian marble, from Carrara.

White marbles are the leading actors in our history and culture: there are countless monuments, famous all over the world, realized with this extraordinary material, that represent in many people’s imagination symbols characterizing Italian style. However, to talk about white marble is far from easy, and in fact with extreme humility we are trying to give you, with this presentation, some hints of a range of materials that is actually huge and full of facets. In the Apuanian- Versilia area there are as of today about 150 quarries, from whose a wide variety of marbles is extracted.

Think that the first uses of marble pulled out from these quarries date back to the age of Iron, even if the highest development of this activity was during the Romans era, particularly under Giulio Cesare (48-44 b.C.). Right in this age the first exports started, to bring the precious stone towards the patrician houses located in the vast Roman Empire.

During the Renaissance then, artistic use of marble has known its apex, in these very same Carrara quarries Michelangelo used to come to pick his blocks. Let’s then try to better know some of the materials that are quarried in this area, and that with their look timeless and modern at the same time, have always been protagonists of the most prestigious architectural projects all over the world.

Bianco Carrara – The KING
The most used marble in the world, always: this is Bianco Carrara, a material with pearly white color, tending to grey, with small grey veins. It is distinguished by an high component of calcium carbonate, which gives to it a structure that is strong and chip resistant. For this reason, it’s a material that’s good for all purposes, both in or outdoor, and it’s right for all finishing, even if the most popular are polished or honed, besides those that are more usable on the outdoor such as sandblasted or bushammered. Bianco Carrara has a range of shades that identify its commercial selection (C, CD etc…) and that depend on the background color: the more white it is, the more it is fine, and therefore expensive. Because of this, even if Bianco is known to be and “easy” material, due to its large usage, it is actually better to rely of professionals that know it well and that can make an accurate selection. We, at 2P, carefully select our Bianco from the source and, during tiles production, every single piece is chosen by hand based on the background color and the veining direction. Our crates are identified by an ulterior internal classification that allows us to supply our customers with material from the same lot, so they can realize tone- proof projects!

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Calacatta – The bestseller
This beautiful marble has had, especially in the past few years, it season of glory. In all its variations , it is sought after and price for these blocks has increased tenfold within a few years. Nowadays many materials, even artificial ones, have the word Calacatta in their name, to remind of this prestigious material, but what it really Calacatta? First thing, It’s an Italian marble, extracted in Carrara. There is no Calacatta from other sources – that’s only commercial names that take profit from the appeal that this most popular material has gained not only within architects and designers worldwide, but also with the great public. This stone is characterized by its ivory background, warm, and by the bodl veining going from grey to beige to gold (the so called “Calacatta Gold”). Different qualities of Calacatta are classified on the basis of the background color and the veining. Also the direction of the veins is take into consideration during selection. With materials like these it is possible to realize stunning book matched effects. Calacatta can be used both indoor and outdoor, and can be cut in 1 cm thickness without mesh backing (even if it is a material that can have many defects). At 2P we have always been producing most renowned qualities of Calacatta, in tiles of all sizes and, on demand, in slabs and cut to size.

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Statuario
Alike Calacatta, also Statuario has been recently used on numerous projects, all of high prestige as it is the most exclusive and expensive marble of the Apuanian – Versilia district. It is often assimilated and sometimes confused with Calacatta – in the end the extraction area is the same one – but truly Statuario is characterized by an ice white background (vs the warm- ivory one of Calacatta) and bold grey vein (never golden). The splendor of this white makes it the absolutely preferred one for sculptures (from which its name ), and it’s also widely used even in most modern design projects for its look that is minimal but luxurious at the same time, that perfectly fits to whatever other material or color used in furniture.

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Statuarietto
It is often specified also on large projects as it is more easily available than Statuario, therefore it’s more suitable for supplies of many square meters. This material is available in tiles of all sizes as well as slabs at 2 or 3 cm. it is obviously possible to make customized cut to size on customer’s demand.

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Venatino
Material with white background (whiter than Bianco Carrara), patterned with busy thin grey veins. Vastly used In both indoor and outdoor, will guarantee an homogeneous and elegant result, remaining in average price range. It can be used on projects also of many square meters, as it is usually available in nice quantities.

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Arabescato
An elegant classic, with ivory white background furrowed with bold veins ranging from dark grey to green, depending on the quality of material. There in fact several selections, characterized by different colors and movements that can be more or less “egg shaped”. This beautiful material, good for both in/outdoor use, will give your projects that never out of fashion old villa look. It must be considered that many Arabescato quarries are covered with snow during winter, so material could be not available in winter months. This is an important fact to keep in mind when planning the construction of a job, in order to avoid delays in building.

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And with this, for all concerns the white materials, it’all!
We are obviously at your full disposal to give you more detailed information on each one of the analyzed materials, to send you samples, quotes and whatever else you may need!

Follow us with next news, when we will be reviewing the GREYS!