Stone Engraving Lettering

We have over 1000 font styles including Serif, Sans-serif (block), Old English and Script which are the most common selected – see descriptions and images below. Alternately you can provide your own style of font which our team will then reproduce and engrave with precision accuracy in any type of stone, and in any language required.

All letters are engraved in the face of the stone, and depending on stone selected can be left as natural, or can be painted in any colour – black, white, chrome or 23 carat goldleaf are the most commonly chosen colours.

If needed, Larcombe Memorials staff would be happy guide you in your decision regarding the best colour for the type of stone that has been selected.

Letter Styles

  • Serif Letters are fonts with characters that have ‘feet’, such as the default font in microsoft office ‘Times New Roman’. These letterforms date back to the ancient romans, and are thought to be a respectful classic font. It is often used as the main part of text on a memorial.
  • Block Letters also known as ‘sans-serif’ letters are more modern and simple looking and do not have any ‘feet’. They are often one solid size the whole way around the letter. Although not as traditional, block letters are also often used for the main part of text on a memorial.
  • Old English Letters are just how they sound, written like in old style England. Quite often the heading on a memorial will be written in old english, such as ‘In Loving Memory Of’ and the rest in a serif or block letter.
  • Script Letters are similar to how a persons handwriting would look. It is nice when used sparingly or as decoration, for example a single line from a verse or poem at the bottom of the memorial.

Engraving Styles

  • Natural Everlasting is when the stone is engraved with the letters and left with the natural stone showing (only on black granite).
  • Gold is when after the letters have been engraved, 23 caret gold leaf is applied.
  • Silver is when after the letters have been engraved, they are given a chrome finish.
  • Raised Letters have the surround of the letters engraved, rather than the actual letters themselves. So you are left with a surrounding box around the text, with the letters raised in the face of the stone.

Foreign Language & Special Characters

We are able to engrave in many different languages including special letter sets such as Arabic and Chinese. Example custom lettering we have done includes Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Russian, Korean and more. Many different cultural groups often choose to have a mix of their traditional language and plain English on their loved ones memorials.

What to write

View our Epitaphs / Inscriptions page for some examples of what is commonly written in memory of loved ones.