Yes, it is. They have quarries around the world, but I am partial to their Barre product. At the time, from what I recall, they were getting into more intrusions and losing the beautiful consistency that they previously had with that gray, so their estimates were dropping.
I understand the quarry at Barre VT is a great family trip. The scale of operation there is said to be breathtaking.
Yeah...my Rock of Ages T-shirt would be several sizes too small these days, but I had kept it for a long time for the memories.
I see from their website that their quarry operations are 600 feet deep and their workshop is huge.
Believe it or not it is cheap to quarry polish and cut the stone including inscription in China and ship it here (these things weigh 450lb minimum).
Yes, it's a sad thing, but I believe it. American costs are so much higher than over there.
As for lettering, I recall my father explaining to me that he'd specified a way to inscribe my grandparents' stone to enhance the lettering as it weathered, basically with the raised center that I see others using now. Once I got into typography a bit, I began to think of what typeface would be best to improve on my dad's idea. I still haven't had the time to figure it out. But no matter what I pick, I know it will be better than the old marble markers my ancestors used (which are intact but illegible)...or the beautifully detailed siltstone ones that are split along bedding planes even though the writing is still so sharp.
Go Granite!
You don’t have to worry about weathering with granite. Stones cut with a chisel into mirror polish (very shallow, maybe 1/8”)over 150 years ago are STILL perfect today. The polish hasen’t even begun to haze, which would be the first sign of weathering. Most inscriptions I cut today are several times deeper. If you worry about such things the stone called “Jet Black” is even harder and heavier than Barre grey which is the contract specified standard in the Big NYC cemeteries. If Barre grey fails in any way while it is set in the cemetery the quarry has to replace it.