Granite is molten lava that never rose above the surface of the earth. Granite is a very hard natural stone denser than marble. A geologist will tell you that it is an igneous or metamorphic rock that is highly saturated with silica. Silica when combined with oxygen makes the mineral quartz, and it has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale. Suffice it to say there are not too many things that will easily scratch granite tile.