I forgot to include a photo

IMO that looks like chipping. That something sharp has nicked it. I have never heard of the honing process causing "pitting"! What type of marble is it? I have honed marble, as well as many on this forum, and would never purchase a damaged slab like that unless the area would NOT be used for my counter. I truly doubt the fabricator could repair those chips to your satisfaction.

Thanks for your comments. I wasn't told that the honing process caused pitting but rather that honed marble is more susceptible to pitting. As I mentioned, all of the other slabs I saw (10-15) had some amount of this. And we aren't talking a no name distributor either, it was at an Arizona Tile.

I have also seen other posts on the forums from other people who noticed this on newly installed counters. But no one could decide if the slab was like this from the start or if it was the result of fabrication damage.

It's tough because I really like the slab otherwise and I won't be able to find something comparable.

I have honed marble on a 60" vanity. It is smooth like velvet, no pitting.

Just trying to save you some heartache. In the year I searched, I saw no blemishes on the many slabs of honed marble I looked at. I also can't magine how honing would make it susceptible as it is a finishing process as polished marble is. A particular type of marble could have voids that finishing could uncover, but those in your pic looks like chips from moving, equipment, rough handling, or anything sharp coming in contact with it. This is the biggest problem with all marble. It chips easy. I purchased perfect slabs and when delivered one had a chip that they also said happens all the time during fabrication and they would repair. The repair was horrible and stood out like a sore thumb. Long story short, I rejected my large island. Karin_mt has many stone threads that are very informative about marble. It's worth the search and long read if you haven't come upon them yet.

Usually those that notice chips on newly installed marble are very unhappy, and it's typically because of the fabrication. A good fabricator can repair, but those are hard to find. They typically are repairing damage caused during the install. I again emphasize that I would not buy damaged slabs. It's a bad place to start when so many things can go wrong from that point.

After lots of Internet research, I'm somewhat at a loss. Lots of comment along the lines of this is no good, other comments say it is part of marble.

I should clarify I haven't spoken to the fabricator about this, only the slab yard. As I mentioned, most of the honed slabs that I saw had some of this. I will speak with the fabricator tomorrow and ask about it.

I'm very torn. My partner thinks we should just live with it. I think there is a 1% chance that we will find a comparable slab of 3 cm honed Danby. This is the only place in the Bay Area that I am aware of that carries this and I have done a lot of research on slab yards. This shop has no other 3 cm slabs and most of the others are way more expensive polished Montclair. Even then, the Montclair does not have the gold veining. It is mostly gray.

I have 3 cm Carrara from daltile in San Leandro with none of those white marks. My gc had his fabricator hone it as we preferred 3 cm and they didn't have any already honed. IRG in Brisbane had the biggest slab selection of any place we went.

What are the little brown spots. Could that be iron?

rjknsf, are you in the Bay Area? I got my half slab at North Coast Tile & Stone in Santa Rosa. They uncovered and moved three full slabs of honed carrara for me to consider. All I was thinking about was the patterning. It never occurred to me to run my hands over the stone to feel for preexisting pits and such. The installers treated it with kid gloves. It's got a luscious surface I can't resist petting.

Honed Carrara here and no 'pitting' but as others have said above, that isn't because of the honing process, they are dings. I got them on my sample piece when I dropped keys on them hard etc.

I am in the Bay Area. We went to IRG but we didn't see anything we loved that was within our budget. Unfortunately, I have not found any Carrara that is not mostly gray. I was really hoping for something with a white background.

I'm not sure what the brown is but it is part of the veining. The slab is white with gold and grey veining. The gold is more of a rusty color.

Just to clarify, I was to that this kind of thing is more common on honed marble, not that it was the result of the honing.

I agree that they look like impact marks. It is as though something hit the marble and crushed the crystal structure resulting in a bright white mark. You can feel them if you run your finger over it, like a very shallow ding.