There are tons of options that use breton Caesarstome, silestone, cambria, lg viatera, zodiaq, MSI, are just a few. I would not use non-Breton. Even if it's a perfect install. You have to live with it for years. Not worth the risk.

I attended the International Surface Event in Las Vegas this afternoon. When the Chinese rip you off, they do it right. Their estone is on display and is as good as anything out there. Anyone who says or believes otherwise is cheating themselves out of selection.

Yeah, the Chinese blew it with the melamine; don't eat their tilapia, but don't ignore their estone.

I've got pictures, but my buddy Dave is taking salmon off the grill right now. Maybe after dinner.

What did you find out about their manufacturing technology compared to Breton, Joe? I've been trying to find that out since hearing about Chinese quartz four years ago when I bought my Breton quartz. I really am not interested in how it looks, just the manufacture and performance.

I'm extremely interested in this - since my countertops account for about 1/3 of my budget

Here are some of the Chinese glass for countertops. It is spectacular.

I didn't get any pictures of their quartz, maybe tomorrow, but this isn't rocket science manufacturing. Probably more telling is the fabricator I met who was unwilling to bet he could buy a container of the stuff and sell it at a profit. The Chinese don't need to convince Houzz readers, they need to convince him; he'll convince you.

I saw Chinese quartz that looked just like the latest large particulate Cambria, which is manufactured (Breton) in Minnesota.

I plan to look at Caesarstone next week. :)

Research, research, research!

Thanks, Lily Spider. I have been viciously attacked here by company employees of one California quartz company for asking questions about their Chinese quartz. That company is on Navy Mom's list. I wouldn't touch it for that reason alone. But the reality is, many people buy it for the price and don't care about the rest.

Still know nothing about their production methods as the response is always just defending the Chinese. They make your iPads, etc. etc. Was hoping Joe asked this time since he's seen it at two trade shows now. Recently someone posted about problems with their Samsung quartz, chipping and pitting. I've never heard of a quartz pitting on the surface. They told him it hadn't been cured properly. That's my big bugaboo.

Here's a blog post about Chinese quartz.

http://granitequartz.blogspot.com/2011/02/chinese-quartz-importing-quartz-slabs.html

Thanks, May. I sent the author an email. Curious if he will reply and answer my questions.

I'm not being evasive, but the only research I've done on this consists of speaking to a salesperson for whom English is a second language and looking at large samples. I've had no opportunity to fabricate or even repair any Chinese quartz. I can't believe the Chinese would build a state-of-the-art facility to turn out junk. I make no claims to the fairness of their international business policies, I just saw some amazing Chinese quartz and glass at a trade show. Do as you please with that information.

I do know that the Chinese regularly employ a friend of mine, Lenny Elbon, who was an expert witness in the Wilsonart SSV class action lawsuit settlement. They're hiring some of the most talented Americans available. Lenny's wife is Chinese and a knockout, but I digress.

I have seen Chinese quartz samples. One sample had a scratch on it. I was impressed at first glance....but that scratch changed my opinion.

There are a few Chinese companies that use Breton technology now. They are listed on the Breton website. But they are parent companies and who knows what they call their products. In that blog post, he says the Chinese use Keda technology. I recently saw someone from Texas post about a new Chinese quartz where the technology was named after a different Chinese engineer. I can't remember the name of the company nor the technology.

Personally I wouldn't - but that's because we are in the process of ripping out an entire kitchen full of non-breton Quartz (Samsung Radianz). Long story short, it either wasn't cured correctly or manufactured incorrectly and simply moving a plate over the counter will leave permanent gouges. It sure looked good when they installed it though. You can read more here:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/3570741/quartz-has-to-go-opinions-on-replacement-options?n=37

In looking at replacement the Breton process was the only type of quality assurance I could look for as a consumer.

Wow - that is a shame. I read through your post — interesting how Samsung came right out and says that they don't use Breton technology.

So, I have some calls into the company that carries the stone I'm interested in. They market it themselves under the name "Difiniti" I have no idea the cost yet - so I can't even compare it to a "Breton" stone.

I'll keep poking around.

I did find some stones I like made by Vicostone — their "heritage collection" looks really nice.

It could be worse - at least they are standing behind the product! But we won't be putting the same product back in.

Good luck with your search!

I have Vicostone. It's Breton and made in Vietnam. I bought mine through Pental, which is a granite distributer that began carrying quartz about five years ago. They renamed it Pentalquartz. A few other companies also slap their name on Vicostone.

It was the Pental warehouse manager who told me that when the owner of Pental went quartz shopping, he looked at the Chinese products and found that they cure their quartz (the resins) for a shorter time and lower temperatures than Breton, so he wasn't interested in selling their product.

Another great engineered stone that is made using top of the line Breton is Quantra It's made in India by a company called Pokarna and sold in the U.S. by Cactus Stone located in Phoenix, AZ

I just called MSI and only some of their products are manufactured using Breton Technology! The "Calacutta Verona" that I liked so much does not and it is from China!! I'm very disappointed but won't touch the stuff.

Your loss.

I am a fabricator. In a previous life (before I started my granite shop) I was the VP of service for a major manufacturer of printing equipment. We sold a million dollar machine to China. Three years later we got a request for a service call and I sent a service rep to China. When he returned he told us that the Chinese had the machine we sold them AND a virtual duplicate right next to it. The duplicate was copied to such a degree that the copied parts even had the original part numbers stamped into them. The Chinese can be adept at copying stolen technology. However, there are also many stories where the copied parts or machines were of woefully bad quality. A machine tool company in my town was bought out and the brilliant new owners closed the plant and moved all the manufacturing to China. It came within an eyelash of destroying the company and the manufacturing was moved back to the USA.

Regarding the chinese slabs; The Breton process for making slabs requires a significant level of sophisticated process control to consistently make good slabs. Even Breton made slabs occasionally have defects that cause problems for the fabricator. If a fabricator has experience with Chinese slabs and says they're OK he's probably right. The one concern could be the color-fastness of the slabs since a deficiency there might takes a long time to reveal itself. This is not an issue with Breton slabs unless they're exposed to unfiltered sunlight and then they'll fade very noticably in just a few weeks.

Hope this was helpful.

We used Silestone on our perimeter counters and Herostone Ovaltine (Chinese mfg) on our island and in one bathroom. It's still early, only been in the house since the end of Feb but I have had no issues with it. At this point I wish I'd skipped the Silestone and used the Herostone match for it. We've had one small issue with the Silestone and none with the Herostone.

Thanks, "oldryder" and "DLM2000." Now I'm getting nervous about using quartz at all!! What can be trusted?!

Knock knock, LG and Samsung are brands from South Korea folks.

Caesarstone uses this technology

Does lg viatara use the Bretonstone technology. I cannot locate on their website

The Breton website confirms that LG uses the technology - both in words and by listing the Viatera logo.

https://breton.it/en_na/services/articles/story-of-bretonstone

The global success

Today, BretonStone is a large family that includes all the products manufactured by the various companies that produce and distribute it worldwide:

Stone Italiana, Santa Margherita, Caesarstone, Technistone, Daltile, Cosentino, Cambria, Seieffe, Quarella, Silicalia, AKG, Dupont, Vicostone, Technistone, Diresco, Pokarna, Quartzforms, LG, Belenco, Hyundai, Marudhar e molti altri ancora.

See also the following website that discusses the Breton process, who uses it and also Chinese made quartz.

https://www.kungfu-stone.com/what-quartz-brands-use-breton-technology.html

Carsarstone uses Breton technology

Currently, world-renowned brands such as Caesarstone, Silestone, Cambria, LG Viatera, and Zodiaq all choose and use Breton Technology. Of course, their product quality and price are relatively high.