Quartz Vs. Marble
Although both the marble and quartz based engineered stones are created through a similar process, and multiple companies produce both at the same time, there are distinct differences in their properties and applications.
Marble is a relatively soft material which is prone to scratching, but also makes maintaining them much less difficult. Typically they can be re-polished all the way until they become too thin. Marble is also much more common and accessible around the world and comes in a wider variety, which gives their engineered counterpart a significant edge in pricing and the variety in its pattern and colors.
Engineered marbles are typically most popular as flooring materials for large commercial projects such as hotels, shopping centers, business lobbies, where they combine the attractive appearance of marbles with more budget friendly prices and reliable delivery times.
Quartz meanwhile is a much harder material.
The Mohs scale of marble is roughly 3, where as quartz are usually at 7. This makes them much more resistant to scratching, however it also makes re-polishing and general processing of them a more difficult task, which is why they are most commonly used for kitchen counter tops, where the value added through processing can off set their considerably higher cost.