Every time someone comes to my house they compliment my set. In person you can see the bits of natural quartz in the stone reflect. Mine has a green tint, similar to a dark jade. It is durable. The hardest thing I’ve ground was nutmeg.This is solid and stable, which was what I was looking for. My only issue is with seasoning it before it’s first use. Pulverizing 1/3 cup of dry rice is not as easy as it sounds, but I definitely don’t want flecks of granite in my food so I’ll keep at it. I still think it was a good choice.Love the sturdiness. Don’t let it fall on your foot. Ouch! It’s quite heavy.Great gift now I can crush fresh tea, lavender and make fresh paint and makeup tooIt's heavy solid granite. I'll definitely be using it on my cutting board. I can easily see how this would gouge my new granite countertops. But I do love the piece.Love itFav purchase, makes my work easier and food tastierIt was very useful in grinding spices for special dressing for family occasion.First the reason for knocking 1 star off the review - there is no way on this planet I could pulverize raw rice to season the surface. I had a go, but unless you pull lorries by hand for a living, the strength needed is impossible. Did go on to do the salt / pepper / spice / garlic bit so hopefully that will sort the interior out. Other than that, a big chunk of loveliness and usefullness. Grinding spices down to a powder makes the taste better, more rounded and ensures the 'bigger' spices don't predominate and you get a taste of everything. Highly recommend - just suggest you get in touch with Geoff Capes to try and squash the dry rice!!I would have given a 5star if it wasn't for this bleeding mat which bleeds colour when washed. Otherwise this mortar is exactly the weight and size I was looking not only for spices but also to make pastes (pesto, ginger/garlic etc)I've wanted one of these for the past ten years but never bought one ....As a head chef who loves cooking pan asian dishes I am more than thrilled with this item....You've got this far on Amazon you might as well treat yourself .....Rough texture inside so you are grinding grit in with your spices. A no no! Outside not possible to clean as is really jagged texture.This product is large and quite heavy, the bottom is rough so should be used on a board or cloth to prevent scratching the worktop.