Marble is one of the most desired natural stone for interior designing. While it has a reputation for being costly, marble prices vary greatly depending on many factors – the most important of them being its aesthetic beauty.

You can’t really put a price on the unique patterns that adorn your interiors and elevate ordinary rooms into spectacular spaces.

Bellatrix: Exotic black marble with spectacular golden characters

Why is marble expensive?

Besides its finite nature, marble is a durable and beautiful stone known for the luxurious experience it extends to any space. Additionally, the process of converting the raw pieces of rock into opulent slabs of lavishness is energy-intensive. These are a few reasons why marble is a famously expensive natural stone.

Factors that affect the price of marble

Availability

The demand for certain types of marble – for instance, higher quality, with fewer veins and grains, particular colours, and so on – also drives up the cost.

White marble enriched with calcites tends to be costlier than dolomite marble (coloured) with mineral impurities. Natural variegations are more common than finding pure white marble. White marble quarries are limited and so they cost more than most types of commonly available marble varieties. Some exquisite marble varieties (like Statuario) are only available in one quarry, making it rarer.

Statuario: Premium Italian white marble

Lifestyle trends

Modern home-owners want to stay up-to-date with lifestyle trends, and that also affects the marble price. For instance, grey marble is in vogue and demanded by forward-looking clients, driving up the cost of the marble category in the market.

Similarly, imported premium marble varieties are rising in popularity, even though they are costlier than the commercial varieties that are found commonly.

Application

Since marble is versatile – you can use it for flooring, cladding, vanity tops or countertops – the application also influences the cost. Obviously, flooring would require more area of marble than countertops. Please note that where you choose to use the marble only affects the gross cost of the marble you buy, not the price of the marble slab itself.

Surface finish

Marble is mostly sold unpolished for flooring, and needs to be polished after installation. However, now there is a range of stimulating 3D surface finishes available that draw attention, especially to the internal cladding.

Labradorite: Marble cladding for enchanting interiors

Treatment and processing

How the marble is treated affects its core strength, durability, aesthetics and overall quality. R K Marble provides international-grade marble processed with the revolutionary CHR Treatment in which each marble slab is treated individually by the polymerization process.

Thickness of slab

Another factor that influences the listed cost of the marble is the thickness of the slab. 18mm is the standard thickness of marble that is recommended in India – and preferred by most home-owners. However, 16mm thick marble is also available. Some exotic marble varieties are also available in 20mm.

Most premium marble varieties

Exquisite white marble varieties

• Statuario
• Michael Angelo
• Golden Statuario
• Flawless White

Enchanting grey marble varieties

• Fantastic Silver
• Grey Picasso
• Manhattan
• Grey Frappuccino
• Colatina

Fantastic Silver: Marble for elegant interiors

Exotic coloured marble varieties

• Bellatrix
• Madagascar
• Patagonia
• Blue Jasper
• Asteroid
• Desert Eagle
• Labradorite

Value over cost

When buying marble, you need to look for value instead of the immediate cost. For instance, it is worth it to pay couple hundred bucks more for everlasting marble that lasts for a lifetime than the one that lasts for only 5-10 years.

Marble is a long-term investment, and you will experience its quality long after you forget its price.

Patagonia: Make a statement with exquisite wall cladding marble