Nero Portoro

Black with golden veins – one of Italy’s most precious marbles.

Rock type: Limestone (traded as marble)
Origin: Portovenere, Liguria · Italy
Surface: polished
Hardness (Mohs): 3–4

Made in this stone (2) ↓

Close-up

The same photo at three magnifications – this is how the pattern looks up close.

Every veneer is one of a kind. The image shows the stone; your piece will look different.

The story

Nero Portoro is quarried on the Ligurian coast near Portovenere, where the quarries sit directly above the sea. Its name comes from gold: the yellow veins are iron-bearing deposits that look like liquid metal in the black. Since the Baroque it has adorned churches and palaces all the way to Versailles, and because the deposits are small, it remains one of the most expensive marbles in Italy to this day.

Polished to a high gloss, it reveals its full depth. We source it from Antolini in Verona.

Properties

Polished, deep, with veins that never repeat. In the stone trade almost every polishable stone is called marble – we tell you what it really is geologically.

Family: Marble
Hardness (Mohs): 3–4
Processing: sawn, ground, polished
Surface: polished

For comparison: fingernail 2.5 · glass 5.5 · quartz 7. Values apply to the rock family.

Care

Clean with the Stone Cleaner. If the surface looks dull, the Marble Liquid Polish brings back the shine. Wipe off acids such as lemon juice, vinegar or wine promptly.

Care instructions →

Made in this stone · 2