A stone well cut for a clear purpose, done with love and dedication, is a time consuming thing to make. A stone is commissioned because someone feels strongly that they want to commemorate something, or someone, special. To commemorate is to hold as worthy of remembrance; to celebrate; to give it weight, gravitas or importance; to perpetuate. A cut stone is a material thing representing something immaterial - both it and the letters are symbols.

Stone is one of the world's natural resources. One of the beauties of cutting letters in stone is the material itself. It has been around in its various forms, colours and strengths for millions of years. It is a solid part of the world's history and its creation. It has in it an inherent beauty and stability. This precious natural resource and its history must be respected, and in cutting one wishes to add to it something that aims to enhance the world.

Cutting letters in stone fuses the timeless natural beauty and permanence of the material with a living message and meaning. As David Kindersley wrote,

'The main object of cutting words into slate or other hard materials is that they should last.'O