Polished vs Honed vs Leathered Stone

Polished

Ground and buffed to a full gloss. Deepens colour and makes veining pop, and the closed surface resists staining best.

Best for: Formal kitchens, bathrooms, anywhere you want maximum depth of colour.
Watch out: Shows fingerprints, water spots and etching more than any other finish. Becomes a mirror in direct sun.

Honed

Ground smooth and stopped before the gloss. Soft, matte, contemporary.

Best for: Marble that will see daily use; floors where polished would be slippery.
Watch out: More open surface, so seal it properly. Light honed stone shows oil marks.

Leathered

Brushed to a subtle texture with a low sheen. You feel the crystal structure under your hand.

Best for: Dark granite, outdoor kitchens, busy family kitchens where fingerprints matter.
Watch out: Texture holds a little more dust; not every stone takes leathering well.

Brushed

Similar to leathered but softer and more uniform. A gentle satin.

Best for: Limestone and travertine where a full polish would look wrong.
Watch out: Less dramatic than leathering — the difference reads mostly by touch.

Matte

A flat, low-reflectance finish, most common on engineered quartz and porcelain.

Best for: Modern schemes; rentals and commercial work where marks must not show.
Watch out: Some matte quartz shows grease marks that wipe off but reappear.

Finishes look different in person

A photograph cannot show sheen. The gap between honed and leathered is obvious under your hand and almost invisible on a screen — which is why we keep samples of each finish on the floor.

See Them in the Gallery