Calacatta Viola is cut from the Vagli quarries in the province of Lucca, where the Apuan marble meets manganese-rich rock, and it is those minerals that give the stone its unmistakable colour: veins of violet, wine red and deep aubergine running through a pale, creamy white ground. This block is the heavily broken expression, with large white fragments set in a dense network of dark veining and warm brown edges, so a single slab reads almost like a mosaic. The honed finish keeps the surface matte and velvety, holding the depth of the purples without the mirror glare of a polish, and it suits statement kitchen islands, bathroom vanities and full-height wall cladding, table tops and other bespoke pieces where the stone is meant to be the subject. Colour shifts noticeably with the light, no two blocks are alike, and like all natural marble it should be sealed and cared for.