In the past few years the preference for marble (taken as the carbonate materials, such as marbles in the strict sense, limestones, travertines and onyx) rather than granite has been a constant in world stone market trends. While this preference is overall, the most popular materials seem to be a number of varieties distinctive for their esthetic features and especially for their color.
Some of the best-liked colors are yellows, in all shades and in every material (marble in the strict sense, limestone, travertine and onyx) and beiges, especially as found in limestones and travertines.

Some of the most famous beige limestones are the Italian varieties like Botticino, in particular Botticino Classico, Botticino Semiclassico, Botticino Fiorito, and Perlino Bianco. Those from Puglia include Trani Classico, Trani Filetto Rosso and the many types of Serpeggiante. A classic type from Spain is Crema Marfil. Portugal, among its other types, is well known for its Moka Cremo: in fact, while these limestones are often hard to polish and are therefore considered to be more stones than marbles, many of these varieties have esthetic characteristics typical of the beige calcareous group and so fulfill the same market demands.
The large-grain beige limestones, generically defined as perlato (pearly), include classic Italian materials like Perlato Sicilia, Perlato Royal and Chiampo Perlato.

Although their esthetic features can vary quite a bit, all these materials (and those quite similar to them) have for decades been a definite market reference, accounting for the highest sales of this kind of product. Major works in which they have been used include the Marriott Hotel and Harbour Centre in Hong Kong (Botticino Classico), many residences of Saudi princes (Botticino Classico and Botticino Semiclassico), the Changy International Airport in Singapore, the Wing All Kashiwa crematorium in Chiba, Japan (Serpeggiante Classico) and the BBC offices at Four Mill Bank in London (Moka Cremo).

Lately, however, this heavy increase in demand - in some instances combined with difficulties in maintaining formerly high production standards - has led to openings for materials similar to the classic ones. Materials which have quickly become serious competitors for them from the economic standpoint and in a number of cases from the qualitative.

One of the first -substitute- materials to appear on the market was Galala, an Egyptian medium-grained variety that initially enjoyed great success, thanks especially to its low price. Unfortunately, after being sawed, much of output reveals a dot-like powdery efflorescence and this big defect has provoked major cutbacks in market demand.
Right now most of the new-generation materials come mainly from Iran and, to a lesser extent, from Turkey. They are often given names that directly relate to the classic types, such as Royal Botticino (also known as Cream Prestige), New Filetto Rosso, New Crema Marfil, Dany Beige, etc.

Good popularity (smacking somewhat of a revival, given the historical character of these materials) has been enjoyed by French beige limestones, such as Crema Luna or Mareuil in two types, Floreal and Messidor, the latter having been used in the prestige work of revamping part of the British Museum. Another historical material that has recently come on the international scene is Palmyra Stone, a medium to fine-grain limestone extracted in Syria that was used by the ancient Romans to build the city of Palmyra on the southeastern borders of their empire.
In regard to varieties with larger grain, we cite two types extracted in Lebanon - Perlato Testa, large-grained, Beige Cliquot, medium-grained with a homogeneous pattern, Iran's Jacky Beige and Antique Beige from Turkey,.
Among the travertines, in addition to the classic Roman types, a Mexican variety first appeared that was esthetically almost identical to Travertino Romano Classico. This was followed on the international market by materials from Turkey and Iran. Iran in particular extracts a travertine very similar to the Travertino Romano Classico but more compact, and a travertine with a pale beige ground crossed by brownish bands that give it a markedly oriented pattern unusual for this type of material.

What has led to this net preference for beige limestones and travertines, a preference that seems to go beyond simple fashionableness (although fads are quite frequent in the stone world)? In fact, it should be emphasized that the demand for beige materials does not come from geographically defined markets that we could call niches, but is the common denominator of all the world's major marketplaces. From the Far Eastern ones (especially China and Japan) to the Southeast Asian (especially Indonesia and Malaysia, where demand was heavy even before the great Asian crisis) down to the United States, where beige materials are entering the mentality of the upper-middle class as desirable for standard and custom creations.

To give an idea of how widely these new-generation beige materials are being used, as pure examples we cite some architectural works utilizing the two varieties of Mareuil, basically a well-defined kind of material. These go from the Republic National Bank of Miami and Armani boutiques in Toronto to the duty-free shop in the Singapore Airport (Mareuil Floreal), the already cited restructuring of the British Museum, the Mirage Bistro in Las Vegas, the Printemps department store in Paris, and wind up on the other side of the world with the Town Hall and Regent Hotel in Sydney (Mareuil Messidor).
The success of these materials should probably be interpreted as one aspect of the great interest the international market is increasingly showing in stone as a whole, viewed as a sober, warm-colored material easy to combine with others in refined and elegant settings - all characteristics indubitably shared by many varieties of beige marble in the widest sense. Added value also comes from the excellent results achieved on beige limestone with antiqued surfaces, a recently successful finish that, done chemically or mechanically, provides for uses of the material that meet with the market needs mentioned.
Nor should we neglect to mention the physical-mechanical properties of most beige limestones, which make them appropriate for use not only in interiors in all sorts of ways but also out of doors and for high-traffic pavements.

By Frederick Bradley, Geologist

PICTURES

1. CONRAD HOTEL, Bruxelles (Belgium) (courtesy of LEVANTINA S.A.)
2. LUNGARNO HOTEL, Florence (Italy)- Vanity top in Botticino
(courtesy of COGEMAR srl)
3. LUNGARNO HOTEL, Florence (Italy) - Detail in Botticino (courtesy of COGEMAR srl)
4. BBC OFFICE, FOUR MILLBANK, London (UK) - floor in Moka Cremo and Rosso Verona (courtesy of COGEMAR srl)
5. The Roman Town of Palmyra (Syria) (courtesy of DEMETRA srl)
6. Roman Statue in Palmyra Stone (Syria) (courtesy of DEMETRA srl)