The term Semi-Precious Stone is often related to slabs mainly composed of certain types of Gemstones, all bonded together with resin. Hence, this material is partly man-made, and for this reason every piece is unique; despite some of them might look a like, Gemstones and their distribution within the slabs are random, so it’s impossible for two slabs to look identical. Due to the fact that most Gemstones have a high hardness, these slabs are suited for many uses, ranging from kitchen counter tops, to flooring and back lit wall features.
Quality and quantity of Gemstones used to create these slabs are crucial for the final result, a poor quality might mean low toughness, and a poor quantity will most likely have a huge negative aestethical impact. A cheap pricing can be caused by a low ratio of stone to resin, and it’s also common for suppliers to dye Gemstones upon creation of slabs to try and replicate more expensive specimens.
Beautiful results can be obtained using these material, and also very often factories are able to manufacture bespoke furniture with the same technique in order to create pieces of pure statement. For certain Gemstones though, sometimes only thin pieces are available to be used, and therefore they are just glued onto a resin slab of specific thickness to create a similar effect. Although, their edges result being just plain resin and don’t have any vein or characteristic of the Gemstone, hence they are not suited for uses in areas on where one or more edges are visible, such as kitchen worktops (unless you don’t mind having a plain edge)
Here is a list of the most popular Semi-Precious Stones:
- Amethyst
- Amazonite Graphic
- Blue Agate
- Blue Lapis
- Crystal Quartz
- Mother of Pearl
- Natural Agate
- Ocean Jasper
- Rose Quartz
- Smokey Quartz
- Sodalite Blue Graphic
The Stone Wiz 