We had the good luck of attending a conversation last night between Welsh designer Bethan Gray and Jason Cherrington of Lapicida, a multi-generational, family-run and London based company specializing in natural stone—from sourcing amazing stones from across the globe to using unique CNC Shaping Mill technology to carve into everything from classic French limestone to Jerusalem stone and rare antique reclaimed pieces.

Their collaboration began with a few table pieces for Wallpaper* magazine's "Handmade" initiative at this year's Salone (which included a pretty cute cake plate) and has since resulted in the handful of tables they shared tonight. Bethan finds inspiration in the things she encounters locally and afar; everything from the delicate brogue pattern on a bright white pair of shoes belonging to a friend of hers, which became the intricate detail that runs along the edges of her Brogue tables, to the zig zag pattern of the Amalfi Cathedral in Italy, which inspired my fave piece of night by far, the super striking Herringbone table, constructed by water-jet cutting and then melding the slabs of black and white marble together to exactly match the natural grain patterns, and finished by mounting the slab on brass legs. By far the best piece there.

Bethan likes to describe her work as "warm and contemporary" as she tends to gravitate towards natural materials such as stone, wood, metal, and leather, while also making use of advanced technologies during production.

According to Jason—who sits at helm of company, just as his father did before him—despite 30 years in the business and the awesomeness of using some of the world's most advanced technologies, he's constantly amazed by the design and beauty of Mother Nature, as seen in the stones they source. Some of the slabs on display tonight drove that idea home for sure—in particular the slab that the Alice Tableware sat on. The gray and white and black of the marble immediately called to mind swirling sand dunes—at least for me!