Granite

Igneous and nearly unbreakable. Countertops, curbs, and monuments that outlive the quarry.

Granite is frozen magma — an igneous rock that cooled slowly enough for its crystals to grow big enough to see. The speckle you're looking at is feldspar, quartz, and mica, all interlocked so tightly the stone barely has a weakness to split along.

The recipe

feldspar   ~60% — the pink or white
quartz     ~30% — the grey glass
mica       ~10% — the glitter
grain      visible crystals, interlocked

Why it lasts

At Mohs 6–7, granite shrugs off knives, keys, and weather. It's why curbstone and monument bases are granite — it just sits there, century after century, while the limestone next to it slowly dissolves.

Granite Stone Texture
Granite, up close.