At Drummonds, our passion lies in designing and manufacturing our own products. To achieve the best results, we source raw materials of the highest quality and have built a team of skilled craftsmen that craft each item with an unparalleled excellence. For our vanity collection, we hand-pick the finest Italian marble, fully overseeing the process from quarry to construction. Click the image below to watch the film.

Italy was one of the first countries to streamline and perfect quarrying methods still in use today,and its final product is considered one of the best in the world. The marble we use is known for its purity, durability and vibrant colour – attributes that depend on the way marble is formed.

One of the most famous types of marble in Italy comes from the Carrara region. Carrara marble has a rare quality of absorbing light, adding a radiant texture to the surface. In fact, the word marble derives from the Greek word “Marmaros”, meaning shining stone. This lustrous quality made it appealing to Roman and Greek artists and sculptors like Michelangelo.

Hundreds of quarries have operated in the Apuan Alps since the days of ancient Rome. The Romans harvested the stone with such manic intensity that it became the architectural signature of the empire’s power; Augustus liked to boast that he inherited a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.

Marble comes from limestone that has been compressed and exposed to heat over time; created by the transformation of other stones through the action of high temperatures and intense pressures. As a result of this process new minerals, textures, and structures give rise to many different types of marble.

The colour and boldness of the veins vary with the amount and type of minerals that are present in the limestone. This naturally varies based on the location of the marble, making every marble slab completely unique. For example, pure calcite marble is white, whereas red marble gets its tone from hematite and limonite gives the marble a green or yellow shade.

The process of extracting marble consists of slicing large blocks of rock from the mountain. A perforating hammer machine is used to drill both vertical and horizontal holes. Diamond wire is inserted in the drilled holes, which then passes through the selected portion of mountain and, via abrasion, the wire slices through the stone. This process is called quarry bench cutting. These blocks of marble, also known as benches, are then separated from the mountain by the interposition of an iron piston pushed by a track loader or excavator. At this point, the blocks are divided into smaller pieces and loaded onto a truck and moved downhill. Lastly, the blocks are squared and cut into slabs with diamond blades, and polished to intensify the natural look of the stone.

The quarries represent a different world, one which is extraordinary, intriguing and unique. It is an isolated universe, balancing the industrial and natural. Hard working men conduct tractors surrounded by a breath-taking background of white cliffs and majestic marble blocks. In these areas, the peculiar geology of the marble mountains has equally generated a unique human community, where people live in white towns, breathe white dust, speak a very local dialect and foster their own politics.

After personally selecting each marble slab, generations of stone masters finish each piece by hand. We want every marble product to tell a story, to be unique and to add character to your bathroom. This is the genuine authenticity that defines Drummonds.