— Natural stone · Bayswater, Melbourne
Onyx.
Onyx, cut and installed from our Bayswater workshop. The one stone that passes light. Backlit bars, vanities and feature walls, for people who want the room to glow.
Living with onyx
Hardness
The softest stone we cut, softer than marble. It marks, scratches and etches. That is the trade for a stone you can see through.
Light
Onyx is translucent. Lit from behind, the whole slab glows like a lantern. It is the reason people choose it, and the first thing we talk about.
Acids and stains
Lemon, wine and vinegar etch it, like marble but faster. Seal it, and keep it off the busiest bench in the house.
Sealing
Yes, more often than marble. At install and then regularly, and if water darkens the stone instead of beading, it is due.
Where it belongs
Bars, vanities, reception counters, feature walls and fireplaces. A kitchen benchtop is possible, but we will say so plainly if the kitchen is hard-used.
Fragile slabs
Onyx slabs are veined with natural fractures and usually arrive with a fibreglass mesh on the back. They are handled, cut and lifted with that in mind.
In the workshop
Quick on the saw and quick to polish. The layout is designed around the lighting, so joins and supports sit where the pattern hides them, and mesh-backed slabs are lifted and cut with that in mind.
The names people ask for
White onyx
The classic backlit stone. Milky white, drifting to soft amber or grey.
Green onyx
Deep greens with white veins. Dramatic lit or unlit.
Honey and pink onyx
Warm bands of amber, cream and rose. The bar stones.
— 03 · Against the others
Onyx against the other stones
Onyx is the softest natural stone we cut. Beside it, the three man-made slabs: what each is, and the places they do better or worse than onyx.
Onyx
Banded calcite laid down by mineral springs, and the one natural stone that passes light. The softest stone we cut.
In the workshop
Quick on the saw and quick to polish. The layout is designed around the lighting, so joins and supports sit where the pattern hides them.
Where each one differs from onyx: green is better, red is worse.
Porcelain Large-format porcelain slabs
A large-format ceramic slab, fired from clay and minerals, with the pattern printed on the face. Thin, light and colour-fast.
Sintered stone Smartstone · Dekton · Neolith · Lapitec
Natural minerals pressed and fired into a dense slab with no resin, coloured through the body. Made for heat, sun and hard use.
Reconstituted stone Quartz-look engineered surfaces, zero-silica
Crushed mineral bound in resin and cured into a uniform slab. The same colour and pattern every time. Today's Australian slabs are zero-silica.
— 04 · Before you buy
The questions people type before they buy onyx
01Can you use onyx for a kitchen benchtop?
You can, and we will say plainly when you should not. It is softer than marble, etches faster and scratches. On a bar, a vanity or a feature wall it is superb. On the bench where the family cooks every night, it will wear, and quickly.
02How do you backlight onyx?
The slab sits on a frame over a panel of even LED light, with the stone cut thin enough to glow and the supports placed where the pattern hides them. We plan the light and the layout together, because every bracket and join shows through a lit slab.
03Is onyx a marble?
No, but it behaves like one. Onyx is banded calcite laid down by mineral springs. It is translucent, which marble is not, and softer.
04Does onyx need sealing?
Yes, at install and then regularly. Onyx is porous and it etches, so seal it and keep lemon and vinegar off it.
05Is onyx banned in Australia?
No. Onyx is natural stone. The July 2024 ban is about engineered stone, the resin-bound quartz slabs, and onyx has never been part of it.
06What does onyx cost?
Usually among the dearest slabs, and the backlighting and handling add to the work. The slab, the lighting, the edges and the cutouts decide it, quoted live on your slab layout, not from a rate card.
07White onyx, green onyx, honey onyx
The names describe the colour. White is the classic backlit stone. Green is deep and dramatic. Honey and pink are the warm bar stones. The slab in front of you matters more than the name.
— 05 · Edges, thickness, fluting
What we can do with an onyx slab
Onyx takes every profile we cut and polishes quickly. Fluting suits it because it is soft, and a fluted onyx front lit from behind is a lantern. Try each edge in 3D, then open a live quote.