How Grand Antique Became a Lost Luxury of the Marble Industry

Grand Antique marble, from the Pyrenees Mountains, is renowned for its naturally occurring stark black-and-white contrast. It’s been in demand among the elite as early as antiquity. The Romans quarried it for centuries, and it’s featured in St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, as well as Joseph-Napoléon Bonaparte’s tomb. But mining this marble ground to a halt nearly 70 years ago — until a quarryman rediscovered it. Now, a square meter of Grand Antique costs nearly $2,000.