G664 Granite (Rosa Porino)

What Is G664 Granite?

G664 is a medium-grained pink to brown-purple Chinese granite, historically quarried near Luoyuan in Fujian Province. It is sold internationally under a wide set of trade names — Cherry Red, Misty Brown, Copper Brown, Luna Pearl, Purple Pearl, and in Poland as Brąz Królewski (Royal Brown). It has been one of the standard Chinese granites for memorial work for decades, and it remains one of the best value options in the pink-brown family.

Its position in the market is complicated by two things that a buyer needs to understand before requesting a quotation, and both are covered in the next two sections: the original quarry is reported to have closed, and the stone is routinely confused with a visually similar Spanish granite.

The "New G664" Question

Search for G664 anywhere in the trade and you will see the prefix "new" attached to it constantly — new G664 granite tombstone, new G664 monuments, new G664 slabs. That word is carrying more weight than it appears to.

The classic G664 quarry at Luoyuan is reported to have closed around 2016, part of the wider environmental crackdowns that reduced granite output across Fujian and Shandong. G687, the closely related Peach Red granite, is reported to have closed as well. What followed is the same pattern seen with several Chinese granites: substitute materials entered the market carrying the familiar name.

Three categories of material are sold as G664 today:

• Stock from the original quarry — material extracted before closure, still circulating in limited volumes. If a supplier claims to hold this, ask for the extraction date and expect to pay a premium.
• New G664 from alternative Chinese quarries — material of similar appearance from different benches or provinces, sometimes marketed with codes such as G635 or G361. It may be a perfectly good granite; it is not the same deposit.
• Imported substitutes — notably Vietnamese pink granite (Red Gia Lai / GL Pink), which is frequently sold under the G664 name. This is reported to be a geologically different stone, not a G664.

What this means practically. None of this makes "new G664" a bad purchase. It means the code no longer identifies a single material, and the appearance and performance of what arrives depends entirely on which of the three you are getting. The controls are straightforward:

• Ask for the quarry of origin and whether it is Chinese or imported material.
• Compare colour against a physical sample you have approved, not against a photograph. Pink-brown granites vary more between sources than between batches of the same source.
• Treat a large price advantage as a question. Vietnamese pink granite and Chinese new G664 do not cost the same to produce; a quotation well below the market is telling you which one it is.
• Confirm the colour matches previously supplied work if you are extending an existing cemetery contract. Substituting new G664 mid-project produces a visible difference across the site.

G664 Is Not Rosa Porriño

This confusion is common enough to be worth stating plainly. G664 (Chinese) and Rosa Porriño (Spanish, from Galicia) are both pink granites with a similar medium-to-coarse grain, and the names are used loosely in the trade — some suppliers list G664 as "Rosa Porino" as a matter of course. They are not the same stone.

The practical significance is legal and commercial rather than geological. If a specification, a tender or a client's reference project names Rosa Porriño, supplying G664 under that name is a substitution — even if the two look alike and G664 performs well. Conversely, G664 is substantially less expensive, which is usually the reason the substitution happens.

G664 vs G687 (Peach Red): these two are genuinely closely related Chinese pinks, and G664 is reported to be the slightly darker and redder of the pair. Both classic quarries are reported closed, and both have "new" substitutes in circulation. If your project was specified on G687, G664 is not a safe visual substitute.

G664 Technical Specifications

Test data for G664 is less consistent across sources than for the grey granites, which is itself informative — it reflects the fact that material sold under the name now comes from more than one source.

Read the flexural range with care. The published spread of roughly 12.7 to 27.6 MPa is wide enough to matter if you are specifying thin material or a spanning condition. Given that G664 is now sourced from more than one deposit, the sensible approach is to request the test report for the actual production lot rather than relying on a general figure — for a memorial or paving application it will not matter, but for a thin cladding panel it might.

G664 in Memorial Work

Memorials are the largest single application for G664 by value, and the market is geographically concentrated in a way that is worth knowing if you are buying or selling in it. Buyers searching for a wholesale G664 new granite tombstone, or for a G664 new granite tombstone wholesale quotation for a cemetery contract, are working in exactly this part of the market — and the "new" in those searches is carrying the substitution question described above.

Poland and Central Europe

Poland is the largest single market for G664 memorial work. The stone is well known there under the trade name Brąz Królewski — Royal Brown — and it sells alongside the other Chinese granites in the Polish cemetery trade on the strength of its technical properties and its price. Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are also established markets, along with the USA, UK and Russia.

Polish tombstones follow their own dimensional conventions, and a supplier who works the Polish market regularly will hold these as standard: 120×240 cm, 90×190 cm and 100×200 cm are the common formats. These differ from the North American and UK conventions, so a specification written for one market should not be assumed to suit another. Tell your supplier which market the memorial is destined for, and they will cut to the right convention rather than to a generic size.

Why G664 suits memorial work

The stone is dense and hard, resists staining and weathering, and holds an engraved line cleanly. Its warm pink-brown tone reads well against both light and dark cemetery backgrounds, and it photographs well — which matters more in the memorial trade than in most, since much of the selection now happens remotely between a family and a monument company.

G664 takes polishing to a high gloss, sandblasting, laser etching, hand carving and gilded or painted lettering infill. On the polished surface, lettering in contrasting black or gold reads clearly; the engraved line reveals a lighter raw stone beneath the polished face, which is the mechanism that makes lettering legible on any polished granite.

Forms produced

• Upright and companion headstones — single and double, with shaped or plain tops, and available as a G664 new granite tombstone customized to a client drawing.
• Slant and flat markers — the North American formats, and their European equivalents. The G664 new pink granite gravestone and the G664 new pink granite headstone are the two forms most commonly ordered in this group.
• Kerbed memorials and kerb sets — the enclosed plot format common across the UK, Ireland and much of Europe.
• Polish-style monuments — the specific forms and proportions of the Polish cemetery tradition. A poland style new G664 granite tombstone is cut to those conventions as a matter of course when the destination market is stated on the order.
• Book, heart, cross and figurative memorials — carved to drawing, including new G664 granite monuments with shaped and carved elements.
• Sub-bases, plinths and vases — the accessory elements that accompany a memorial order.

Available Products and Formats

G664 Slabs

Slabs are produced in 2 cm and 3 cm thicknesses as standard, with heavier material to order, and in sizes up to approximately 240 × 140 cm. Polished is the standard finish, with honed and flamed also produced. Small slabs and cut-to-size work dominate in practice, because most G664 leaves the factory as fabricated memorial components or as tiles rather than as large-format architectural slabs.

G664 Tiles

Standard tile sizes include 305×305, 305×610, 400×400, 600×600 mm and the corresponding imperial formats, in thicknesses from 10 mm to 30 mm. Polished and honed finishes are common for interior floors and wall cladding, with flamed for exterior paving and floors subject to heavy traffic.

G664 Paving, Setts and Steps

Flamed and bush-hammered G664 is used for exterior paving, walkways, terraces, pool surrounds and steps. Setts and cobblestones are produced in cube and rectangular formats, and larger paving is cut to size. Stair treads, risers, window sills and thresholds are cut to drawing. The stone's low absorption and reported strength make it suitable for exterior work across a range of climates; as always, installation detail — drainage, bedding and movement joints — matters as much as the material.

G664 Countertops and Vanity Tops

G664 is used for kitchen countertops and bathroom vanity tops, usually polished, and often where a warm tone is wanted but the budget does not extend to an imported pink. Standard North American countertop and vanity formats are produced, with the usual range of edge profiles: eased, bevelled, bullnose, ogee, Dupont and radius. Confirm the thickness tolerance you need rather than assuming it, particularly for undermount sink work where the cut edge is visible.

G664 Monuments and Memorials

Covered in detail above — this is the stone's principal application and the form in which it is most often exported. Custom CAD drawings are accepted, and minimum orders can be as low as a single piece for a bespoke memorial.

Surface Finishes

Polished — the standard memorial and interior finish, taking a high gloss and showing the stone's colour at its deepest. This is the finish most G664 is specified in.

Honed — smooth matt, retaining colour without the mirror. Used for interior floors, stairs and cladding, and increasingly for countertops where a polished surface would be too reflective.

Flamed (thermal) — the standard exterior finish, textured and matt with good grip. Used for paving, steps and exterior flooring.

Bush-hammered and sandblasted — heavier texture for high-grip applications; sandblasting gives a finer even matt used on paving and walling.

Natural split and chiselled — rustic finishes for walling and landscape elements.

Tumbled and antique — softened edges and a weathered appearance, mainly for small-format paving and setts.

Carved, etched and sandblasted lettering infill — the memorial-specific surface treatments, in natural engraved finish or with painted or gilded infill.

Applications

• Headstones, monuments and memorials — the principal use, especially in the Polish, Central European, US and UK markets.
• Interior flooring and wall cladding — polished and honed tiles.
• Exterior paving, terraces and walkways — flamed paving and setts.
• Stairs, treads and risers — interior and exterior.
• Pool surrounds where suitable — flamed finish, subject to confirmation of the specific finish's slip resistance.
• Kitchen countertops and bathroom vanity tops — polished.
• Window sills and thresholds — cut to size.
• Kerbstone and paving within landscape schemes — where the pink-brown tone is wanted.
• Feature walling and cladding — polished or split-face.

Sizes, Tolerances and Custom Fabrication

Calibration. Uniform thickness matters more for paving than for memorials, where pieces are set individually. Ask for the stated tolerance in millimetres for tiled and paved work.

Colour matching. This is the more important control for G664, because material sold under the name now comes from multiple sources. For any project that extends or matches existing work, supply a reference sample of the stone already installed, and require the new material to be matched against it rather than against a general "G664" colour.

Edge work and profiles. For memorials, the shape and the edge detail are the product. Confirm against a drawing. For kerbed memorials and Polish-style monuments, the profile conventions differ by market and should be specified explicitly.

Packing and Container Loading

Packing. Standard export packing is fumigated, seaworthy wooden crates. Memorial components are typically packed with foam or plastic padding between polished faces and strapped within reinforced crates; tiles and paving are bundled in the usual way. Crate timber of 2 cm is used by better factories; 1.5–1.8 cm is the common practice.

Loading. At a density around 2.6–2.8 g/cm³, G664 loads comparably to the other Chinese granites. Cut-to-size paving at 20–30 mm runs in the region of 300–500 m² per 20ft container for European destinations, less where North American overland weight limits bind. Memorial work is loaded by piece or by set rather than by area, and a mixed container of memorials and paving is a common arrangement for importers serving both markets — ask for a loading plan if you are consolidating.

Quality Control and Inspection

1. Source confirmation. Given the substitution situation, the first check is which G664 you are buying: original stock, new Chinese material, or imported pink. This should be confirmed in writing on the order.

2. Colour match against a physical reference. Bundle photographs in daylight compared against an approved sample, not against a supplier catalogue image.

3. Dimensional and profile accuracy. Particularly for memorial work, where the components must assemble — headstone to base, kerb to kerb, and the whole to the plot dimensions.

4. Surface and edge condition. Chipped arrises and inconsistent polish, assessed on the packed material.

5. Lettering and carving accuracy. For memorials, proof the inscription layout and the carving before production, not after. Correcting carved lettering is not possible.

We photograph and record bundles at packing, and third-party pre-shipment inspection can be arranged on request.

Pricing

G664 is generally positioned as one of the best value granites from China — a reputation the original supplier marketing leaned on heavily, and one that the substitute market has traded on since. Published market reference points run in the region of US$290 per monument on wholesale listings, with some finished headstones listed around US$980; tiles and slabs are commonly quoted in the US$20–25/m² region for standard formats, with wide variation depending on finish and thickness.

The factors that move a real quotation most:

• Which G664. Original-quarry stock, Chinese new G664 and imported Vietnamese pink carry different costs — the largest single variable in a quotation right now.
• Memorial complexity. Memorial work is priced by the piece, driven by size, shape, carving and lettering rather than by area.
• Finish. Polish quality and the proportion of hand work determine a large part of the cost on memorials.
• Order quantity and container fill. Quotations are normally against full-container quantities.
• Destination. Overland weight limits change the landed cost per unit.
• Duty and tariff. Trade measures vary by destination and change over time. Confirm rates with a customs broker for the specific entry rather than relying on any published list, including this one.

Ordering Process and Lead Times

1. Specification. Confirm the material source, colour reference, finish, dimensions and — for memorials — the inscription layout and profile drawing. Tell the supplier which market the memorial is destined for so the correct dimensional convention is used.
2. Samples. Physical samples are available and strongly recommended for G664, given the variation between sources.
3. Quotation with loading plan. Price alongside the container loading figure.
4. Pre-production approval. Bundle photographs, and for memorials a proof of the inscription layout and a prototype of any carved element.
5. Production. Standard formats typically run in the region of 15–20 days; carved memorial work and large volumes take longer.
6. Packing and inspection. Bundles photographed; third-party pre-shipment inspection available.
7. Shipping. Standard export terms include FOB Xiamen, CFR/CIF and EXW. Common payment terms in the memorial trade are a 30% deposit against production with the balance against a copy of the bill of lading, or a letter of credit at sight.
8. Documentation. Commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin, with fumigation documentation accompanying the packing.

Choosing Between G664 and Its Alternatives

Because the original quarry is reported closed, a buyer specifying G664 today is really choosing between several materials that share a name. The decision is easier if you separate it into the question you are actually trying to answer.

If you need to match existing G664 work, there is no substitute. Colour-match against a physical sample of the stone already installed, and expect to pay a premium for original-quarry stock if it can be found. Substituting new G664 or imported pink mid-project produces a visible seam across a cemetery that will be noticed for decades.

If you need a warm pink-brown granite and the specification names G664 loosely, the alternatives are worth pricing. New G664 from alternative Chinese quarries is usually the closest match and the best value. Vietnamese pink granite is a genuinely different stone but often reads similarly in a photograph — which is precisely why it circulates under the G664 name, and why you should inspect it in person rather than on a screen.

If the colour is flexible and the constraint is budget, it is worth pricing G687 (Peach Red) alongside G664. The two are closely related and G687 is the lighter, browner of the pair. If the project can take either, comparing them on total landed cost rather than on ex-works price is the right comparison — the two do not load identically.

One warning that applies to all three. Pink and red granites vary more between sources than almost any other granite family, and the variation is hardest to judge from photographs. A supplier's catalogue image of G664, a photo of the bundle, and the stone on site under a grey northern sky are three different colours. Approve a physical sample, and keep it.

Memorial Design Notes

Most of the practical difficulty in a G664 memorial order is not in the stone — it is in the details that have to be right before cutting.

Lettering and layout

On polished G664, engraved lettering reveals the lighter raw stone beneath the polished face, which is what makes it legible. The contrast is strong on a mid-tone pink, and both natural engraved finish and painted or gilded infill work well. What matters is that the layout is proofed before production: line breaks, centring, the spacing of dates, and the position of any motif or emblem. Carved and etched lettering cannot be corrected afterwards, and re-polishing a memorial to remove an error is not economic.

Kerbs, bases and assembly

For kerbed memorials — the enclosed plot format common across the UK, Ireland and much of Europe — the components have to assemble as a set: headstone to base, kerb to kerb, and the whole to the plot dimensions. This is where dimensional tolerance matters most, and where a mismatch between the drawing and the cemetery's actual plot dimensions causes the most rework. Confirm the plot dimensions on site rather than from a record, and provide them to the supplier in the same units the drawing uses.

Fixings and setting

The fixing method should be settled before the stone is cut, because it determines whether dowel holes, slots or plain faces are required. Memorials in exposed cemeteries need to be fixed against wind loading as well as set level, and the fixing detail is usually governed by the cemetery authority's regulations rather than by preference. Ask for those regulations early.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between G664 and "new G664"?

The classic G664 quarry at Luoyuan, Fujian is reported to have closed around 2016. "New G664" refers to substitute material of similar appearance — either from alternative Chinese quarries, or imported pink granite, notably Vietnamese Red Gia Lai, sold under the G664 name. It may perform well, but it is not the same deposit, and its colour and physical properties will differ. Ask which you are being quoted.

Is G664 the same as Rosa Porriño?

No. G664 is a Chinese granite and Rosa Porriño is a Spanish granite from Galicia. They are visually similar and the names are used loosely in the trade, but they are different stones with different physical data, and Rosa Porriño is considerably more expensive. Supplying one under the other's name is a substitution.

What is the difference between G664 and G687?

Both are Chinese pink granites and closely related in appearance; G664 is reported to be slightly darker and redder, while G687 (Peach Red) is a lighter pink with brown tones. Both classic quarries are reported closed, and both have substitute material in circulation. They are not interchangeable in a colour-matched project.

Is G664 good for headstones?

Yes — it is one of the most widely used Chinese granites in the international memorial trade, particularly in Poland and Central Europe where it trades as Brąz Królewski, and also in the US and UK markets. It is dense, holds an engraved line cleanly, takes a high polish, and is well priced relative to imported pinks.

What sizes are standard for Polish tombstones?

Common Polish memorial dimensions are 120×240 cm, 90×190 cm and 100×200 cm. These differ from North American and UK conventions, so tell your supplier which market the memorial is destined for rather than assuming a generic size will suit.

Where is G664 quarried?

Historically near Luoyuan in Fujian Province, China — a quarry reported to have closed around 2016. Material sold as G664 today comes from several sources, including alternative Chinese quarries and imported Vietnamese pink granite. Confirm the origin in writing.

Does G664 need sealing?

Its water absorption is low for a granite at around 0.17% in supplier test data, so sealing is not strictly necessary. For polished memorial work and interior use it is rarely done. For exterior paving and cladding, a penetrating sealer is a reasonable precaution, and the usual maintenance regime — pH-neutral cleaners, no abrasives — applies.

Can G664 be used for exterior paving?

Yes. Flamed and bush-hammered G664 is used for paving, terraces, walkways and steps. Its reported low water absorption and high strength suit exterior work. As with any stone, installation detail — drainage, bedding, movement joints and freeze-thaw considerations in cold climates — matters as much as the material.

How much G664 fits in a container?

Cut-to-size paving at 20–30 mm runs in the region of 300–500 m² per 20ft container for European destinations, less where North American overland weight limits apply. Memorial work is loaded by piece or by set rather than by area. The exact figure is confirmed with the quotation.