Hardly any stone is so easy to recognise: a deep, almost velvety black, run through with light, sharply drawn veins. Nero Marquina comes from northern Spain, from the area around Markina-Xemein and Mañaria in the province of Bizkaia in the Basque Country. That is where it gets its name.
Marble – or limestone after all?
In the stone trade it is called marble, and that is how the whole world knows it. Geologically, Nero Marquina is a fine-grained, bituminous limestone that is partly recrystallised. Specialist sources assign it to the Cretaceous period and date it to around 125 million years.
That it is nevertheless called marble has a simple reason: it polishes superbly. The trade has always used “marble” for polishable carbonate rocks, regardless of their exact origin.
What the veins are made of
The white lines are cracks healed with calcite. Sometimes they also contain light fragments of fossils. Because every crack runs differently, no veneer is like another – and no case.
The relative with gold: Nero Portoro
Similarly black, but with golden-yellow veins, is Nero Portoro. It comes from the Ligurian coast of Italy, from the area around Porto Venere on the Gulf of La Spezia. The veins owe their golden colour to iron compounds such as limonite and pyrite. Even the Romans prized this stone.
Nero Marquina at ROXXLYN
You will find the stone as an iPhone case, as an AirTag case, as the dial of the Marble Watch and in the MacBook and Vision Pro stands. Profile and all products: Nero Marquina.
Good to know
Calcite reacts to acid. Lemon juice, vinegar or wine can dull polished limestone and marble. So wipe off splashes quickly. If the surface turns matte over time, a wax-based polish brings back the shine. How to do it is explained in the care guide.