Gabbro and Karelian Black,
and what matches them.
Every workshop drawing that reaches us from Russia names one of these two stones. This page sets out what they are, which Indian blacks stand in for them on shade, grain and absorption, and what we can ship — blocks, slabs or finished units.
The two names
on every drawing.
Both are dark, dense and slow to weather — the reason the Orthodox memorial trade settled on them. Their character is the benchmark we match against.
Габбро-диабаз
Gabbro Diabase
Габбро-диабаз
Near-black, extremely fine grain, very low water absorption. Holds a mirror polish and
engraves crisply, which is why portrait work sits on it so well. The traditional
Karelian monument stone.
Карельский чёрный
Karelian Black
Карельский чёрный гранит
Dense black with an even, close grain and a slight depth under polish. Cuts and carves
cleanly, and stands up to washing and frost cycles year after year.
What we supply
against those drawings.
We work Indian blacks with the same working properties. Send us the stone your customer expects and we will courier the closest match — side by side, so you judge it, not us.
Order it at any stage
of its own production.
Workshops with their own saws take blocks or slabs. Dealers take finished units. The same block run can be split across both in one container.
What workshops make from it
The same black stone runs through the whole plot, which is why shade matching matters more here than anywhere else.
Hold a whole plot — monument, kerbs, cover, vase, lantern — to one block run and the set still matches in five years. Split it across two shipments and it rarely does.
Send the stone name
your customer expects.
Gabbro and Karelian Black,
and what matches them.
Every workshop drawing that reaches us from Russia names one of these two stones. This page sets out what they are, which Indian blacks stand in for them on shade, grain and absorption, and what we can ship — blocks, slabs or finished units.
The two names
on every drawing.
Both are dark, dense and slow to weather — the reason the Orthodox memorial trade settled on them. Their character is the benchmark we match against.
What we supply
against those drawings.
We work Indian blacks with the same working properties. Send us the stone your customer expects and we will courier the closest match — side by side, so you judge it, not us.
Order it at any stage
of its own production.
Workshops with their own saws take blocks or slabs. Dealers take finished units. The same block run can be split across both in one container.
What workshops make from it
The same black stone runs through the whole plot, which is why shade matching matters more here than anywhere else.
Hold a whole plot — monument, kerbs, cover, vase, lantern — to one block run and the set still matches in five years. Split it across two shipments and it rarely does.
Send the stone name
your customer expects.
