We have the polished in our showroom....display was ordered in suede. We were disappointed in how blue it looked, whereas all the brochures showed this looking more black. Maybe the suede looks more black. But the polished shows REALLY blue!

Glad I could help! :-)

Soapstone is never "polished" so I don't think a polished quartz "soapstone" would be my choice.

Sticky finger marks? You need to wipe those counters off often whether or not you see them unless you're okay with everything sticking to your counter! Why don't you just use soapstone.

Steph, I’ve had toddlers and I’ve had grandchildren. Mine didn’t eat all day long and did not constantly have sticky fingers.

Anglo, our display was ordered in the suede (not polished) finish. Silestone's fabricator fabricated the wrong slab. It was heavily discounted, so I didn't insist they replace it. I would've been happier with the suede...it doesn't look AS BLUE. But it's still pretty blue from a few of the pics I've seen online.

Cambria's Blackpool Matte is very nice. Solid black, no veining and looks pretty cool! They also offer matte on a lot of their colors now. I'd be interested in seeing something like Cambria Mersey in matte, if available. That would be cool!

I was just in a granite shop and got to see the Silestone Charcoal. It did not read blue as in the Kitchen Place's photo. I was very pleased with how it looked. It may have been the lighting?

Yes, I would take a sample outside if you can and or try several different lit areas to see what it looks like. Mine is suede finish and does read sort of blue, which was not what I wanted. I guess I’m getting used to it now..

Ellen, I've read several of your comments on the Silestone Charcoal Soapstone. Now that you're getting used to it, do you think it's a wise choice as long as we recognize the color issues? Have you had problems with water spots or fingerprints in the time that you've had it?

Hi Teresa, I’d say over the few years we’ve had it we have allowed dishes to air dry pretty frequently and yes, there are so areas that if you have the right light and angle, you can see some water marks. I’m not sure if my comments you’ve seen included the ones about chipping, but that has been a factor too. Mostly along the interior front rim of the sink area, but recently another one along the front which is pretty noticeable. I’m really not happy about that. I thought quartz was considered tough. This product hasn’t proven to be the case for us. We are not throwing heavy pots or anything else around, so it’s a bit of a mystery to us how these occurred. I’ll show you a pic if I can of water marks and chips.

Chips and watermarks