Global Granite & Marble

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Christian Condit, Partner

Christian inspecting a block of granite before processing

Whenever a customer asks “where does all this stuff come from?” my answer is “we travel all over the world in search of the best stone available”. They immediately comment how fun it would be to be able go to all those exotic places, to which I explain that the factories and quarries that we purchase from are not anywhere near the usual creature comforts one would expect from a tourist destination. For example, a typical trip to Brazil starts with a grueling 24 hours of travel time (including some beautiful aerial views of the quarries).

Our arrival culminates with a four-passenger Cessna buzzing a dirt runway (to first scatter the cows), followed by a quick bush landing that is sure to unsettle even the most seasoned rollercoaster enthusiasts.

Actually, flying in Brazil is still quite a bit safer than driving, but since most of the factories and quarries are not accessible by air, we resort to the next available option: “The Chariot of Death”. In a normal 10-day trip, it is not uncommon to for us to rack up 2000 km on a rental car. Believe me, full coverage on the insurance is a must - even with a very experienced local driver, the dangers of Brazil’s roads are all too real.

Clearly, traveling is an adventure, but our efforts are rewarded once we reach our destination and are able to personally select the materials we will purchase. One of my favorite things to do at the factories is to go out back to “the rock pile”. Many of our key suppliers are constantly looking for new materials, so to accomplish this they actually have teams of people who go out and hack off chunks of boulders or other exposed bedrock, record the GPS coordinates, and then put them in their “Rock Pile Library”. I can spend hours sorting through these raw sample chunks of material, looking for that special new color. When I find one of interest, I will have them cut it and put a polish on one side in order to give us a good idea of what the final product will look like.

Due to the uniqueness of stone, however, you can never be entirely sure of what will be found inside a cut block, despite how beautiful the outside looks. Many times blocks are purchased as first quality, but once they are cut up you find out that they’re nowhere near the same material on the inside as appeared from the outside of the block. For instance, take a look at the following photos of a block of Yellow River that we ended up rejecting. Although one side looked clean, on the other there was this big vein that would not meet Global’s high quality standards. It’s situations like these that make all the hassles of travel worthwhile, because we know that all our efforts ensure that the stone Global offers its customers is the very finest that the world has to offer.

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