Curling Stone vs. Granite: Why Do They Cost £500+?

They look like heavy kettles, weigh around 20kg and can cost hundreds of pounds each. Put together a full competition set and the price quickly runs into thousands.

So, why are curling stones so expensive?

It isn’t simply a case of inflation. The answer comes down to rare granite, specialist craftsmanship and the precision needed to make a stone behave consistently on the ice.

Why are curling stones so expensive?

Competition curling stones are made from carefully selected granite that needs to withstand decades of sliding, collisions and repeated freezing conditions without cracking or becoming unpredictable.

At the highest level, much of that granite comes from one particularly unusual place off the west coast of Scotland.

1. The Holy Grail of granite: Ailsa Craig

The curling stones used at the Winter Olympics are made using granite from Ailsa Craig, a small, uninhabited volcanic island in the Firth of Clyde.

The island produces two types of granite particularly well suited to curling:

• Blue Hone Granite: Used for the running surface at the bottom of the stone. It is extremely dense, resistant to water absorption and capable of standing up to years of contact with the ice.
• Common Green Granite: Used for the main body and striking surface of the stone. It is exceptionally tough and resistant to splintering when stones collide.

Rather than continuously quarrying the island, suitable granite is collected periodically, making the raw material far less readily available than the stone used for everyday construction.

That combination of rarity, durability and very specific performance characteristics is a major reason genuine curling stones cost so much.

2. A curling stone isn’t flat on the bottom

A common misconception is that a curling stone sits flat against the ice like a hockey puck.

Flip one over and you’ll see that the underside is actually concave.

Only a narrow circular section called the running band makes contact with the ice.

This small contact area is crucial to the way the stone travels across the pebbled curling surface. Its shape and finish influence the stone’s speed, movement and how consistently it curls as it travels down the sheet.

That means the running surface has to be manufactured and polished with considerable precision. Small differences can change the way a stone behaves.

3. Each stone requires specialist craftsmanship

Turning a piece of granite into a competition curling stone involves considerably more work than simply cutting it into a circle and attaching a handle.

The granite has to be selected, cut, shaped, polished and finished so that every stone in a set performs as consistently as possible.

Modern top-level stones can combine Common Green Granite for the body with Blue Hone Granite inserted into the base, giving each part of the stone the properties it needs for its particular job.

A well-maintained curling stone can then remain in use for decades, with surfaces capable of being refurbished rather than the entire stone needing to be replaced.

4. What are the lights on curling stone handles?

You may have noticed curling stones on television with green or red lights built into their handles.

These come from electronic systems such as “Eye on the Hog”, which have been used to detect whether a player releases the stone before it reaches the hog line.

The system uses:

• Touch-sensitive handles to detect whether the player’s hand is still touching the stone.
• Magnetic equipment beneath the ice to identify when the stone reaches the hog line.
• Indicator lights that can show whether the release was legal or whether a violation occurred.

If the player is still touching the handle when the stone reaches the relevant point, the system can display a red light to indicate a hog-line violation.

Electronic handles have been used at major curling competitions, although they are not used at every top-level event and officials can also enforce hog-line rules without them.

Do I need steel-toe boots to play curling?

No.

Even though a regulation curling stone is extremely heavy, Olympic curlers don’t normally compete in steel-toe boots.

Curling shoes are designed around grip and controlled sliding, with one foot typically fitted with a sliding surface and the other providing traction.

And if you’re heading to The Curling Club, you won’t need specialist curling footwear at all.

Experience curling at The Curling Club

At The Curling Club, we use specially designed ice-free stones that recreate the fun, strategy and competitive element of traditional curling without needing an Olympic ice rink.

They’re lighter and better suited to a social setting, making them perfect for everything from a night out with friends to an evening at our Après Ski Bar in London.

If you’re searching for something different to do for Christmas in London, there’s no specialist equipment or steel-toe footwear required. Just bring your game face and see who can get closest to the button.

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