Marble Bathrooms
A Timeless Material
Whether bright white or inky black, warm cream or smoky grey, marble is a truly distinctive stone. Veins of contrasting colour ripple through it, creating that signature marble look, while to the touch it feels cool, silky and seductive. No wonder man has maintained a love affair with it throughout millennia. Most of the great ancient civilisations have used marble, cherishing this metamorphic stone for its soft, sculptural composition and translucent surface. Carved to create epic monuments by the Romans and Greeks, sculpted into Renaissance masterpieces by Michelangelo, used to construct buildings from the Taj Mahal to the White House and celebrated by architects and designers today, marble is both ancient and timeless, transcending fashion and forever iconic.
Millions of Years in the Making
Marble is formed over millions of years as limestone deposits metamorphose organically into marble rock. It is quarried around the world, with blocks of varying tone and beauty sorted, washed and graded on site. Carrara in Tuscany, Italy is one of its most famous sources – Michelangelo’s David was carved from a solid slab of this beautiful white stone – but Crema Marfil and Nero Marquina marbles hail from Spain, while moody Pietra Grey marble comes from Iran.
One of a Kind Pieces
Marble is a natural stone, so no two slabs are ever the same, making it beautifully unique. It can be cleanly carved to produce the crisp lines beloved of contemporary minimalist design, and has been gaining in popularity over recent years as the last word in luxury. It has also become a go-to material for experimental design, uniquely suited to creating one-of-a-kind pieces.
Marble is now used on kitchen surfaces, on floors and as wall tiles, or fashioned into elegant furniture – think tables and lamps. It works particularly well in a luxury bathroom, with washbasins, vanity units and showstopping bathtubs carved from it. Marble brings uniqueness and elegance, but it also delivers functionality. It is durable, heat-resistant and with the right care, looks beautiful for a lifetime, making it a sustainable choice.
Pairing Marble
With so many varieties and colourways, marble is extremely versatile and can make friends with a host of other materials in a luxury marble bathroom setting. Brass taps bring a warm glow to a cool, classy white Carrara marble washbasin or bath. Striking Nero Marquina bathroom furniture meanwhile combines with pale wood flooring and simple white tiling for a contemporary Scandi look. Whatever style and aesthetic you love, marble can slot right in, delivering timeless elegance and a smooth, tactile finish for decades to come.
Patiently carved, lovingly hand-finished -at Riluxa we treat marble with love
Is Marble Suitable for the Bathroom?
Marble has a long and storied history of use inside, and outside, the home. Nevertheless, you may wonder how suitable marble is for the bathroom, fearing that water and product spills on a marble sink might damage the beauty of the stone.
The good news is that marble is a durable stone that, when treated properly, can stand up to anything a modern bathroom can throw at it. Marble does have particular properties that require more care than some other materials to continue looking its best. But rest assured that maintaining it is actually very simple …. and worth the commitment for those that love the special beauty only marble can offer. A light maintenance routine is as simple as wiping down your marble basin, bath or shower tray daily, a weekly clean and sealing two or three times a year
Crafting our Marble Bathroom Treasures: from Tuscany to your Home
With a passion for the beauty of natural stone, we scour the world for the finest slabs. Only pieces with exceptionally attractive veining are selected for use. The stone is extracted from the world’s premier quarries, among them those in Tuscany, Iran, Brazil, and Spain, after which the blocks are transported to our production facilities in Valencia. Once in Valencia, the process of carving our marble bathtubs, sinks and shower trays can begin.
Crafting Marble Bathtubs
Taking a closer look at the creation process for a timeless marble bath, it demands extraordinary care and precision. Our expert stonemasons first cut away the excess marble from a single block of stone, before patiently carving the form, as with a sculpture, and then hand finishing each stone bath. Every marble bathtub is made to order, in a process that takes our craftsmen over fifty hours to complete.
Objects of Perfection
To prepare the stone for our other applications, multiwire cutting machines are used to cut the freshly arrived blocks into slabs. These are then washed and polished to the desired finish, whether polished, honed, sandblasted or another bespoke finish. Next, our highly skilled artisans begin the process of crafting our coveted marble sinks, natural stone shower trays and luxury marble wall panels, using tools to cut the marble to the desired shape and size, before hand-sanding and precisely assembling pieces to create our signature minimalist luxury aesthetic.
Love It Forever
To protect the marble for use in the bathroom, an impregnating sealer is employed. At each step of the production process, every detail is meticulously reviewed to ensure your furniture is of the highest quality and performs perfectly. The finished marble piece is a work of art: brilliant, perfect, unique.
Choosing your Marble with Riluxa
At Riluxa, we have countless varieties of natural marbles available, each with its own story to tell and its own particular characteristics. From the exquisitely coloured Blue Macauba and the rich black Nero Marquina, to the more subtle and soft veining of Carrara or Crema Marfil, the choice is inspirational. Finding the perfect marble for your project is an exciting journey of discovery.
Carrara
A genuinely timeless marble quarried at the foot of Italy’s Apuan Alps, with a white background and feathery grey veining.
Nero Marquina
Dark, glossy black shot through with white veining, this Spanish marble delivers bold, dramatic style.
Pietra Grey
An elegant marble from Iran that looks beautifully contemporary, thanks to its smoky grey backdrop and pale veining.
Orange Onyx
This exquisite stone ranges from orange to bronze and yellow, with circular veins in darker, earthier tones. It is slightly translucent, allowing light to penetrate it and create a unique glow.
Blue Macauba
Sourced in Brazil, this exotic stone brings seductive colour to a luxury bathroom, with tones of deep blue, Verdigris and even yellow flowing through it like a seascape.
Crema Marfil
Comfortably creamy in colour, this beige marble can be veined with a host of soft tones, from yellow to gold and cinnamon.
Sourcing Marble for Bespoke Projects
We hold an extensive range of more than 100 of the finest marbles from around the world and you are welcome to view and choose your own marble slab for larger bespoke projects. Only the finest stone ever makes it into our marble factory but, as each slab is unique and one-of-a-kind, your ideal slab will depend on your taste, style and the project in question.
A selection of our best-known marble stones is displayed on our website. However, if you don’t find one you love, please share your specific project requirements with our team of natural stone experts who can source virtually any marble you may want.
Marble Finishes Available
A glossy highly reflective surface, resulting in a supremely refined surface. Polished marble is the least porous finish, giving it additional protection. This finish won’t stain as easily as other finishes can and does not demand the same frequency of sealing. Plus, its shine offers a semi-reflective surface that is both attractive and excellent at hiding fingerprints.
A matte to low sheen gloss, favoured for its smooth, velvety surface that’s very pleasant to the eye and to the touch. This finish brings out the full character of the stone, while softening its colour. As it is more porous, it requires more frequent sealing than a polished piece, but it is also more resistant to scratches and excellent at masking etches.
A pressurised flow of sand and water creates an aged, matte finish. The natural colour and pattern of the stone is subtly softened, with the surface displaying a uniform texture of light dots and grooves.
A common decorative technique used with marble is that of book-matching. This is where a single block of marble is cut into two or more slabs, each being polished. We then place the slabs end to end, so that their veining creates a mirror image, continuing from one slab to the next in a continuous flow.
All varieties of onyx marble have translucent portions in each slab. By experimenting with the finish and the lighting source, it’s possible to achieve breathtaking backlit onyx effects.
Several other specialised textured finishes are available for many of our natural stone products.
Contact our Design Advisors directly to learn more.
Learn more about our Marble Collection.
Understanding Marble Structure
Nature never repeats herself. Every slab of marble is unique and unrepeatable, as is each piece we craft from them. Variations in pattern, colouring and the intensity of veining are to be expected, and it is this wonderful variety that gives the stone its individual beauty.
Fissures and pitting naturally occur, too – testimony to the millions of years it takes for limestone deposits to metamorphose organically into marble rock. Appropriate use of marble sealing products will seal these tiny spots and helps protect against water damage and staining.
See it, touch it, love it
Request a free material sample today!