17 Types of Granite Countertops by Colors & Patterns

Let's discuss the different types of granite countertops in detail as well as quickly introduce granite itself. Granites are a category of quarried natural stones that generate within the earth because of long-term geological processes.

These igneous stones are extremely strong and can withstand very high temperatures. Because of these qualities, they’re a perfect choice for making countertops.

Because of contrasting geological conditions of different parts of the world, granites extracted from different locations have distinct chemical and physical properties. These properties manifest themselves in various aesthetic appearances such as colors and patterns.

17 Types of Granite Countertops

The granite countertops are primarily categorized based on their primary color such as white, gray, blue, and black. Then the different patterns of veins and flecks divide them into further subcategories. While we'll be studying processed granite used in the home, it's worth your time to discover more about how granite is formed and all of the various properties associated with it.

White Granite

Despite the name, they are not purely white. Rather, with the overall white look, they contain a wide range of shades, spots, and veins. A combination of opaque white feldspar minerals and milky white quartz makes up its primary ingredients. This core is decorated with small black amphibole grains.

For clean and classic kitchen styles, white granites are among the most popular and sought-after granite countertop types. Their ivory-threaded, gray-flecked, or black-spotted designs are the result of centuries of natural geological processes.

Most common among the white granites are:

Bianco Antico Granite

The soft gray background of the Bianco Antico Granite is spotted with taupe and warm pink flecks. Its classic look is amplified by the gentle and fresh aura. The burgundy red, and brown shades make the granite all the more majestic.

River White Granite

The River White granite is from India. It features an intermingling between the white base and gray, cream, and blue shades. One of its unique characteristics is deep red burgundy spots and dark and light gray veins that encircle the light white base. It is much easier to maintain than most of its peers.

Moon White Granite

Moon White types of granite countertops have one of the lightest shades among the white granites. The jet black, silver, ivory, and gray shades are marvelously intertwined with the white background.

Despite its intricate patterns and delicate grains, it’s a highly durable and dependable stone. Its beautiful swirls and specks can maintain their luster for ages.

Andino White Granite

This slightly off-white granite comes from Brazil. It can be honed for decreasing its reflectiveness, leathered for giving it a soft sheen texture, or polished for making it gleamy.

These types of granite for kitchen countertops sometimes feature large and clear spaces. But more often than not, its white background is rippled and speckled with dark particles. This gives an impression of a stream bed.

White Ice Granite

The White Ice granite has a primarily white background decorated with gray and blue flecks. This allows the granite to seamlessly blend with stainless steel hardware and black kitchen cabinets.

A combination of white, gray and blue. Sometimes browns and blacks also run through the rocks. This allows it to present a cool-toned appeal. These stones come from Brazil.

Gray Granite

Far from being dull, as the name might give the impression, the Gray Granite is perhaps the most diverse category of granites. Within this category, there are shades of blue, green, silver, gold, and black. From reflective bright to warm mellow, the gray granites cover them all.

The domination of the primarily gray shade is accentuated by an abundance of specks of other colors. Because of being neither too dark nor too light, it has an all-spectrum appeal. From soft, smoky things to bright and dramatic patterns, the gray granites cover them all.

Some of the primary gray granites are:

New Caledonia Granite

New Caledonia types of granite countertops are unique in terms of its consistent grain structure. This priceless property allows combining a multitude of different slabs placed side by side without breaking the rhythm of the texture. Thus it is especially suitable for creating an appeal of vastness. The shades of gray range from charcoal to light gray.

Costa Esmeralda Granite

One of the most interesting aspects of Costa Esmeralda is that it is sourced from three different locations on the globe. These are Iran, Brazil, and Italy.

The Iranian one is the most sought-after among these three. It has a distinct green shade. Some variants feature gold or gray veins as well. Being designed solely within nature, each piece is uniquely beautiful.

Steel Gray Granite

Steel Gray granite is a highly durable, low variation granite stone. The primary reason behind its tremendous strength and durability is its homogenous composition. Its mysterious dark gray look makes it a beautiful monolith. That being said, it does have an abundance of tiny specks of different shades of gray.

Brown Granite

Brown Granite is especially suitable for kitchens with wooden cabinets. This is because of the seamless stanchion between the texture of wood and granite. The warmth and depth of the color brown make the granite much more subtle from its pears.

The near homogenous brown base color, tinged by gold, gray, and lighter brown, gives the granite a dark and majestic touch. In some cases, its rusty, natural tone amplifies its beauty with traditional simplicity. And it's easy to match with any types of tiles, whether for the flooring or as backsplash underneath the cabinets.

Some of the major white granites are:

Tan Brown Granite

Among all the different types of brown granites, Tan Brown Granite is the darkest. It’s deep, rich, and magnificent. From dark brown, gray, charcoal black to burnt orange; it contains almost all the dark shades imaginable. The different intermingling hues only amplify its beauty.

Baltic Brown Granite

The Baltic Brown types of granite countertops have an exquisitely lovely look. This is primarily because of its unique irregular fractures that clearly represent its natural origin. It features a shimmering mix of gray, black, and tan flecks on a brown background. The Baltic Brown is also highly resistant to stain, mildew and water.

Giallo Ornamental Granite

There’s actually an argument between the experts regarding where Giallo Ornamental is a white or brown granite! But its tanned and creamy tone has a much more dominant effect on the over texture than the white background.

Despite a little bit of variation, the granite has a rather consistent pattern. Apart from the primary shades, it also features black, dark brown, and gold tings.

St. Cecilia Granite

St. Cecilia or Santa Cecilia has a primarily tan and cream base color. This background is decorated with varying shapes of flecks. The frequent short veins that accompany the flecks give it an almost animated feeling and make for beautiful granite countertop types.

Its 25 percent black texture makes the Brazilian stone much darker than most brown granites. The patches of quartz intertwined with it make the polished granite highly reflective.

Black Granite

Black granite is commonly recognized as the most eye-catching and luxuriant type of granite. It can feature dense, monolithic surfaces to charcoal black base spittled by shiny star-like dots. Thus it covers both smooth and dramatically high-contrast textures.

Interestingly enough, most black granites are not granite at all. Rather, they are gabbro rock, a combination of pyroxene and plagioclase minerals, that’s similar to basalt.

They may also contain olivine and amphibole substances as well. But this stone has similar, if not superior, durability and hardness to most granitic stones. If you like black granite, make sure to take a look at the black types of marble as well, which may surprise you.

The major black granites are:

Absolute Black Granite

Absolute Black granite is the densest and most homogenous of all granites, not just black granites. Its high color consistency ensures an elevated appeal to depth. While you can paint granite countertops when you tire of the color or imperfections, this deep black will keep you satisfied for the ages. It can match so many modern color schemes in the kitchen or bathroom.

These types of granite countertops from India are also known as Negro Absolute and Jet Black. It does have some inclusions though. But these gray speckles can only be observed from close up and form a couple of feet away; they're simply invisible. It’s capable of being highly polished, leathered and honed.

Black Pearl Granite

The overwhelming majority of the surface area of the Black Pearl granite is pitch black. But what distinguishes it from most other black granites is the tiny and shiny flecks of silver, green, brown gold, and gray. Black Pearl is very easy to maintain.

Uba Tuba Granite

This granite is unique among its other black cousins for its shimmering surface. Among the types of granite for countertops, Uba Tuba is very special.

This is because of the small size and high density of the gray, black, green, and brown flecks that are spread over the dark background. Though the phone and leather finish is available, the sparkling polished slabs get the most attention.

Black Galaxy Granite

A perfect description of this granite is the name itself. This Indian granite looks like a clear night sky full of brilliant stars. The flecks are sparse but evenly distributed throughout the surface.

They mostly feature colors such as silver, copper, white, and gold. Usually, this granite doesn’t show any veining. When combined with dark woods like oak, its highly reflective polished finish gives it an exquisite look.

Nordic Black Granite

Interestingly enough, the Nordic Black granites do not originate from Scandinavia. They’re not even from Europe; rather they come from Canada.

Like the other black granites, these stones are also very dark. The suede-like texture gives them a unique look. Because of the silver and white veins, this type of granite looks similar to cracked marble and faux marble.

Types of Granite Countertops for the Perfect Kitchen or Bathroom

These igneous stones quarried from different corners of the globe are of unique colors and patterns. Their very formation gives each one of them a specific imprint. Here lies their beauty and appeal.

If you're doing a do-it-yourself job, then make sure you're using the appropriate granite cutting tools to make sure you get the best end result. You'll have an easier time with the right tools for the job, too.

The different types of granite countertops discussed here are distinguished for their properties such as thermal resistance, strength, durability, etc.

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