Stone Sinks: Marble, Travertine, Limestone and Onyx Compared

A stone sink is a basin carved from a solid block of natural stone, and the choice comes down to look: marble for veining and color, travertine for warm bands, limestone for soft, even tones with fossils, and onyx for translucent banding. The color and pattern run all the way through the piece. Marble, travertine, limestone and onyx are the four stones in our stone sinks range, and each comes in several mounting styles: a vessel bowl on the counter, a basin hung on the wall, a freestanding pedestal or an apron front sink for the kitchen. This guide explains how the stones differ, what each style changes in a room, and which finish and size to look for. Each section links to a longer guide and to the collection behind it.

The sinks in this guide are carved by hand in Turkey, and their product pages list walls about 2 to 3 cm thick. Because each one comes from its own block, the photo on a product page shows the pattern of that stone, and the sink you receive will have its own version of it.

Eight stone sinks at a glance

Sink	Stone	Style	Size (in)	Finish	Weight
Calacatta White round	Marble	Vessel	19 dia x 6	Polished	about 66 lb
Valencia oval	Travertine	Vessel	16 x 21 x 6	Honed and filled	about 66 lb
Champagne oval	Limestone	Vessel	18 x 22 x 6	Honed and filled	about 60 lb
Gray translucent round	Onyx	Vessel	16 dia x 6	Polished	about 66 lb
Calacatta Viola fluted half round	Marble	Wall mount	16 x 24 x 8	Polished	about 70 lb
Carrara with backsplash	Marble	Wall mount	18 x 36 x 6	Polished	about 110 lb
New York square cone	Marble	Pedestal	16 x 16, 36 tall	Polished	about 350 lb
Troia apron front	Travertine	Kitchen farmhouse	18 x 30 x 10	Honed and filled	about 140 lb

The four stones compared

Stone	Look	Colors in our sinks	Finishes listed	Vessel bowl weights listed
Marble	Veins on a solid ground	White, gray, beige, cream, black, brown, red, green, violet-veined	Polished on 144 of 180; also honed, semi-polished, combed	30 to 220 lb
Travertine	Layered bands, natural holes	Cream, beige, gold, red, walnut brown, silver	Honed finish on 87 of 111; also polished, chiseled, sandblasted	about 20 to 200 lb
Limestone	Soft tone shifts, fossil marks, no bold veins	White, beige, gray	Honed on 5 of 7; polished inside on 2	60 to 170 lb
Onyx	Translucent bands	Honey, brown, green, gray	Polished on all 13	55 to 66 lb

The four stones and how they differ

All four stones are mostly calcium carbonate. What sets them apart is the way they formed, and that history shows in the color, the pattern and the finishes each stone takes.

Marble

Marble is limestone that heat and pressure have recrystallized, and the minerals caught in it became its veins. A polished face deepens its color and makes the veining stand out. Our marble sinks run from white Carrara and Calacatta to gray, beige, black, brown, green and red. This Calacatta White bowl is 19 inches across and 6 inches tall, with gray veins on a bright white ground, polished inside and out. For every color and shape, see our guide to marble sinks and the marble sinks collection.

Travertine

Travertine forms around mineral springs, where escaping gas leaves small holes in the stone. A honed and filled finish packs those holes level, so the surface feels smooth and looks matte. The palette is warm: cream, beige, gold, walnut brown, red and a cooler silver. Valencia travertine mixes beige, gold and soft brown in bands, and this oval is 16 by 21 inches and 6 inches tall. Our travertine sinks guide covers the colors and the rough, chiseled and sandblasted outsides, and the full range is in travertine sinks.

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary stone built from layers of shell and marine sediment. It has no bold veins: the pattern is a soft shift of tone, and fossil limestone keeps the outlines of shells and sea plants. This Champagne oval is 22 by 18 inches, a warm beige with a honed and filled surface and a rope-like carved rim. Limestone is the smallest group in the range, and our limestone sinks guide shows every one alongside the travertines that come closest to its look. The collection is limestone sinks.

Onyx

Onyx is calcite laid down in thin bands by slow-moving water. Its defining trait is translucency: in thin sections, light passes into the stone and shows the banding from within. This round bowl is 16 inches across in a beige and gray onyx, polished inside and out. The onyx sinks collection adds honey, brown and green bowls, an octagon and a pedestal.

Five ways to mount a stone sink

The stone sets the look, and the mounting style sets how the sink works in the room: how much counter you keep, whether the floor stays open, and what kind of faucet you need.

Vessel sinks on the counter

A vessel sink is a bowl that rests on top of the vanity, with only the drain passing through the counter. Vessels come in round, oval, rectangular, octagon and sculpted shapes, and the bowl stands 2.5 to 14 inches above the counter; 100 of the 156 vessel bowls in the range are 6 inches tall. Our stone vessel sinks list compares ten bowls, and the vessel sinks collection filters by round vessel sinks, rectangular vessel sinks and black vessel sinks, or by stone with marble vessel sinks and travertine vessel sinks.

Wall mount sinks

A wall mount stone sink hangs on the wall with no cabinet below with no cabinet below. In the range of 111 wall mount stone sinks, 38 have a fluted or ribbed front and 22 a carved backsplash. This Carrara sink is 18 by 36 inches with an integrated backsplash and three faucet holes, and it weighs about 110 pounds. Sizes range from narrow powder room basins to double sinks more than 70 inches long. See wall mount stone sinks for the details, and shop wall mount sinks, marble wall mount sinks and travertine wall mount sinks.

Pedestal sinks

A stone pedestal sink is a basin and a column carved as one sculptural piece that stands on the floor. The pedestals in our range are 33 to 36 inches tall, and the one shown here weighs about 350 pounds. This New York White marble pedestal has a square basin that narrows like a cone into its column, 16 by 16 inches and 36 inches tall, at about 350 pounds. Our marble pedestal sinks guide covers marble, travertine and onyx columns, and the collections are pedestal sinks, marble pedestal sinks and travertine pedestal sinks.

Calacatta Viola, a stone of its own

Calacatta Viola is a white marble crossed by violet and gray veins, and it has enough sinks to fill its own collection: vessel bowls, wall mount basins with backsplashes, fluted and ribbed fronts, corner sinks, double sinks and pedestals. This wall mount basin is a fluted half round, 16 by 24 inches and 8 inches tall, polished, with the ribs running around its curved front. Our Calacatta Viola sinks guide walks through the range, and the collection is Calacatta Viola sinks.

Kitchen and farmhouse sinks

Stone also comes in deeper kitchen basins with an exposed apron front. This Troia Light travertine farmhouse sink is 18 by 30 inches and 10 inches deep, honed and filled, with a carved floral front and a 6.5 cm drain opening. The stone farmhouse sinks collection adds marble in white, black and gray, and double bowl models. Our stone kitchen and farmhouse sinks guide compares them. The wider kitchen sinks collection also lists stainless steel and quartz composite sinks, which are molded from crushed quartz and resin and are not natural stone.

Finishes: what the surface does

The finish changes how a stone sink looks as much as the stone does. The product page lists the finish of each sink:

• Polished: a glossy, reflective surface that deepens color and brings veining forward. All 13 onyx sinks and 144 of the 180 marble sinks are polished.
• Honed: ground smooth to a matte face with no shine.
• Honed and filled: the travertine and limestone version of honed, with the natural holes filled level first.
• Hand chiseled or split face: the outside of the bowl is left rough from the chisel while the inside is polished or honed.
• Sandblasted or combed: a textured outside with a finer, more even grain than a chiseled face.

Our article on honed or polished marble explains the same two finishes in tile.

Sizing a stone sink to the room

Style	Sizes in our range	Details listed
Round vessel	12.5 to 19 in across, 4 to 9 in tall	Rim height = vanity height + bowl height
Oval or rectangular vessel	16 x 20 to 16 x 27.5 in; troughs up to 48 in long	Bowl length listed per sink
Wall mount	12 x 18 in single up to 80 in double	Weight listed per sink; some have carved faucet holes
Pedestal	15 to 22 in wide, 33 to 36 in tall	Footprint and weight listed per sink
Farmhouse kitchen	Kitchen apron sinks 30 to 36 in long, 7 to 10 in deep; smaller marble apron basins from 12 x 18 in	Exposed apron front

Faucets differ by style. Vessel bowls have no faucet hole, so they pair with a tall deck faucet or a wall spout; some wall mount basins have faucet holes carved into a ledge or backsplash; pedestal basins pair with a wall spout. Our bathroom faucets include both types. For the cabinet under a vessel or an undermount sink, browse bathroom vanities and vanity tops.

Matching the sink to the rest of the bathroom

The eight sinks above cover two color families. Valencia travertine, Champagne limestone and the Troia apron sink are warm beige, gold and brown. Calacatta White, Carrara, New York White and Calacatta Viola are white marbles with gray or violet veins, and the onyx is beige and gray.

For full room plans that include a stone sink, see our modern bathroom ideas, with a minimal and a warm plan, and the Japandi bathroom, which builds around pale wood and stone basins.

Stone sink collections in this series

• By stone: marble sinks (white, black, Calacatta Viola), travertine sinks, limestone sinks, onyx sinks
• By style: vessel sinks, wall mount sinks, pedestal sinks, stone farmhouse sinks

Stone Sink FAQ

What is the difference between a stone sink and a quartz or cultured marble sink?

A natural stone sink is carved from a quarried block, so the pattern is the stone itself and no two are the same. Quartz composite sinks are molded from crushed quartz bound with resin, and cultured marble is cast from marble dust and resin; both are made in molds to a repeatable color and shape. Our quartz composite kitchen sinks are listed separately from the stone range.

Which stone sink is the lightest and which is the heaviest?

Among the stone vessel bowls in our range, onyx bowls are listed at 55 to 66 pounds and limestone at 60 to 170 pounds, while marble and travertine vessels run from about 20 to 220 pounds depending on size. Pedestals are the heaviest style, with the pieces in our pedestal guide listed at about 100 to 480 pounds.

Is a stone sink carved from one piece?

Vessel bowls and wall mount basins in our range are each carved from a single block. Several pedestal sinks are made from two or three pieces, such as a basin set on a separate column; the black marble round pedestal, for example, is a basin and a tapered column. The product description states how each sink is built.

Do stone sinks come with an overflow?

The descriptions of 47 stone sinks in our range state that the sink has no overflow, including the gray onyx bowl shown above. The drain opening on vessel bowls is listed as 4 cm, and the travertine farmhouse kitchen sinks have a 6.5 cm opening. The product page lists the drain size where it is known.

Can a stone sink be used outdoors or in a kitchen?

Some can. A few vessel bowls, such as the gray onyx above, are listed for both bathroom and kitchen use, and one travertine wall mount sink is carved as an outdoor sink. For a main kitchen sink, the apron front stone farmhouse sinks are 30 to 36 inches long. The application field on each product page shows where that sink is meant to go.