Quartzite
Sandstone baked into near-quartz hardness — the tough one that still sparkles.
Quartzite starts as sandstone, then gets buried deep enough that the quartz grains weld into one solid mass. Hit it and it rings. It's the hardest stone most masons will ever cut, and it holds a polish that looks wet even when it's dry.
What it is
parent sandstone (quartz sand) process burial + pressure, grains fuse hardness Mohs 7 — scratches glass look crystalline, translucent in thin slabs
Working it
Quartzite eats blades. Budget diamond tooling and patience — it cuts a third as fast as marble. But the finished countertop is effectively indestructible, which is the whole appeal.
