Hand-made with compressed-tainted cement and marble powder based tiles, they will dress your floors as well as your walls.
This process, invented in France at the end of the XIXth Century, lead to the creation of highly resistant to time and every day use tiles, for, they are tainted from the block.
Terrazzo or Granito, is a tile which manufacturing process is as old and traditional as that of cement tile. It is made out of a tainted-cement base, in which a marble aggregate is added.
Terrazzo is based-tainted. Once dry, terrazzo is sanded in order to obtain a smooth and plain surface. Sanding makes Terrazzo naturally little absorbent.
Aggregate brings Terrazzo a specific density so it can be used in various sizes such as 30x30 cm (11.8x11.8 inch.) up to 50x50 cm (19.7x19.7 inch.)
Terrazzo, as well as cement tile, has a high resistance to time and every day use.
The production process is the same as that of Terrazzo, except that they are not sanded in the end.
Doing that, the tile keeps a raw effect. StoneWash tiles keep an uneven surface and faded but shaded colours to reveal the features of ancient tiles.
Thanks to this proceed, Couleurs et Matieres, lets you rediscover the special features of ancient tiles aged by history without any limits of stocks (limited surfaces, high prices,...).
White cement is mixed with white marble powder together with the other coloured pigments.
The colour distributor (one for each pattern) is inserted in a steel frame the size of the tile. The artisan then pours the compartments of the colour distributor with each colour and removes it. This operation is very delicate because it leads to the correct separation of the colours on a pattern and thence the final quality of the patterned tile. At last, the artisan sprinkles the tile with a mix of cement and sand who together act as blotting paper.
The second part of the tile (grey cement support) is placed over the first part of the tile, they altogether go in a hydraulic press (4 tonnes). The tile is turned out before it hardens and put under water for 48 hours. Drying lasts for 28 days during which the tiles are regularly humidified so to ensure the chemical reaction of the cement.
We produce our tiles in Vietnam. We have a permanent office there to supervise the production and the shippings.
Vietnam as a choice came clear to us because it answers high standards of production quality: historical known-how, artistic skills, technical qualifications of the employees (quality of the moulds, refinement in the lines and drawings), coming along with the quality of the raw materials (marble powder imported from China, excellent light cement).
Vietnam also came clear because of it's respect for the worker's conditions (obligation to wear anti-dust masks, yearly holidays, minimum wages), and the ban of underage children's work, which is not negotiable for us.
