I've never heard of this. It is stunning!

Our Rain Forest Green is a Serpentine. It is polished and shines. Our fabricator said we would lose a lot of the detail if it was honed. It is 6 months and I just noticed a tiny scratch that could probably be polished out. I left a jar of salad dressing on it over night last week and the ring came right out. I do use a trivet for hot pots, but that is what I have always done, not because it is marble. I would use a trivet on granite too.

kalapointer and sixtyohno your countertops are beautiful! One of the reasons I am investigating serpentine is because I thought it is harder than soapstone and not as prone to chips and scratches. Based upon your comments this appears to be false. In your opinions, how does it compare to soapstone in that regard?
kalapointer, I am also considering the Antique Verde from Vermont; did they fabricate it or did you use a local fabricator? I live in MA. Have you seen that stone honed? Lastly, what did you use for your backsplash and floor?

I also considered the Vermont Verde - but it was a plain green. Here is
the sample I have. I ended up going with soapstone.

I have an 8" wide ledge of what I'd guess to be a serpentine, on a passthrough separating two parts of my sunroom. It's not a kitchen application, but half the sunroom was built as a plant area, complete with a drain in the floor, so it has likely seen some hard use, with dirt and pots and water, if not food prep.

We're pretty certain the ledge is original (1923) since the same stone is used in a couple other places, including as a border set into the entryway tile floor. After ninety years in the sunroom, here's how it looks--still polished, but with some small scratches, with no etching or staining:

{{!gwi}}

Here's a closeup of some scratches. This area pictured below is about 3"x4". The scratches become visible when one is viewing from two or three feet away.

{{!gwi}}

The bottom edge of the overhang has a couple tiny dings, and one spot where a bit has flaked off along a vein line:

{{!gwi}}

By comparison, my one-year-old kitchen soapstone has similar fine scratches and a couple tiny dings.

serpentine is in the same family as steatite (soapstone).