Questions We Are Asked

Yes — that is the definition of the collection. Each vessel is bored, hollowed, shaped and honed from one piece of stone: no resin core, no stone veneer over a substrate, no seam and no join in the body. That is a claim about the body of the vessel. Surface sealers are a separate matter — every piece is sealed before despatch, and Aeon’s petrified wood additionally takes an impregnating sealer worked into the face to stabilise its natural fissures. It is the reason a piece weighs what it does, holds the heat of a bath the way it does, and takes between fourteen and thirty-two weeks to reach you.

Empty weights run from roughly 300 kg to 1,315 kg. The spread is not arbitrary: the translucent onyx vessels are carved deliberately thin — around 30–35 mm at the wall — because that is what lets light pass through the stone, while Erebus is left massive in the river stone it came from. Filled, with a bather in it, add roughly 300 kg.

Because every piece is cut from a natural block, these are indicative. The exact weight of your vessel is measured and confirmed to you in writing, with its footprint and load-spread figures, before any balance is due. On a ground floor or a concrete slab this is rarely a question. On a suspended timber floor, or anywhere above the ground storey, ask your architect or a structural engineer to confirm the loading before you reserve. We will send the exact weight, footprint and load-spread figures for your piece at no charge — we would far rather you checked than guessed.

The waste outlet is cored and a pop-up waste fitted before dispatch. There is no tap on the vessel itself: the filler is floor- or wall-mounted and chosen by you, which is why rough-in drawings and the waste position are issued at reservation, well before a bathroom is closed up. The connection is made by your own licensed plumber working to those drawings.

The crate comes to your ground-floor threshold. Keep every part of the packaging until the piece is confirmed sound — a transit claim cannot be defended on a crate that went back on the truck. Moving several hundred kilos of stone through a finished house is rigging work rather than delivery — tell us where the piece should stand and we will quote it with a specialist in your city, or coordinate with your builder while the room is still open.

You can. Each of the fourteen is shown in the stone the form was drawn for, but most can be cut from an alternative block. Say so at reservation and we will send photographs of what is available and re-quote if the material changes the price. Beyond the collection we accept a small number of fully bespoke commissions each season, drawn to your room and your dimensions, from $75,000.

Everything is purchased directly on this site. Nothing waits in a warehouse: when you reserve, a block is selected for you and cut — 4 to 20 weeks at the bench depending on the stone and the form. Checkout is secure and handled by Shopify: payment in full. Nothing is ordered, and no block is committed, until your payment has cleared to us — that confirmation is what releases your commission to the workshop.

You may cancel for any reason and be refunded in full within 72 hours of payment clearing. After 72 hours your order is placed with the workshop and manufacture begins — the block is bought and cut — and the commission cannot be cancelled or refunded, unless we agree otherwise with you in writing by email. None of this affects your rights if a piece arrives late, damaged, faulty or not as described.

Four things, at the moments they become true. At reservation: your piece, its dimensions, and your dates, once your block is selected. Before the piece moves: the sum insured on your shipment. Before any balance is due: the exact measured weight of your vessel with its footprint and load-spread figures. Before despatch: photographs of the finished piece for your approval — nothing ships until you have seen it. We would rather tell you a true date late than a comfortable one early.

One price, delivered. It includes the carving itself, crating, export documentation, ocean freight, transit insurance with the sum insured stated in writing on your order, and all US import duty and customs clearance. Atelier Earthmade is the importer of record: our broker files the entry in our name, we settle the duty, and nothing further is ever payable on delivery. Where we are registered to collect it, state sales tax is shown at checkout before you pay — it is the only amount ever added.

Checkout delivers to addresses in the United States, where this all-in price applies. We do ship internationally — but freight, duty and local tax differ by country, so an international commission begins with a conversation rather than a checkout. Send us an enquiry and we will price it properly for your address.

The shipment is insured in transit, door to door, and the cover is bound before the piece moves — the sum insured is confirmed to you in writing on your order. In transit, nothing is at your risk: if a piece is damaged, we manage the claim with the insurer and the carrier, and you deal only with us. That cover runs to the moment of delivery. Once the piece is in the house, our cover and our liability end — the insurance is on the journey, not on the stone’s life afterwards. Where the workshop that made your piece offers a manufacturer’s warranty, we pass it through on their terms and tell you what applies before you buy.

Delivery is booked with you by appointment and the piece arrives crated, to your ground-floor threshold. Inspect it before you sign: note any damage on the carrier’s receipt, keep the crate and every part of the packaging until the piece is confirmed sound, and tell us within 48 hours — we handle the insurance claim from there. Rigging, craning and stair carries are not included; tell us where the piece must stand and we will quote it with a specialist in your city.

Fourteen to twenty-two weeks from reservation for most of the collection. Twenty-four to thirty-two for Aeon, whose petrified wood genuinely cannot be rushed. Roughly half of that is carving and finishing; the rest is ocean freight and clearance. Air freight removes about four weeks from the shipping leg and is quoted on request. We confirm your dates in writing once your block is selected — and if we miss a confirmed date, you choose between a revised date in writing or a full refund.

In transit, nothing is at your risk — see the insurance answer above. Once the piece is in the house, small edge chips in natural stone are repairable in place; we will advise, and where we can we will point you to a stone restorer in your region. Natural fissures, colour movement and vein lines are characteristics of the material rather than faults; they are the reason you chose stone. Day-to-day care is deliberately small — see Materials & Care.