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Answers

How do I tell real terrazzo from a terrazzo-look tile?

Turn it over. Real terrazzo shows the aggregate running through the body to the edge; a printed tile shows uniform clay with the pattern only on the face. Then lay six out on the floor: a printed surface has a finite number of faces, so a cluster of chips comes round again. Then press it: a printed glaze does not dent, and it does not chip at the edge when you set it.
Six terrazzo processes, drawn to one scaleEach column shows the layers of one terrazzo process. Precast and cement-bound are thick; epoxy is thin; porcelain is a fired body. Dimensions are published ranges, not our measured figures.substratePrecast20 mmsubstrateCement-based12 mmsubstrateEpoxy5 mmsubstratePoured10 mmsubstrateLiquid3 mmsubstratePorcelain9 mmSections drawn to one scale from published ranges. Our measured figures are listed separately.
The six processes drawn to one scale. Layer thicknesses are published ranges.

The figures, and where each one comes from

Test Real terrazzo Printed lookalike
The edge chips visible through the body uniform clay, pattern on the face
Six laid out no two clusters repeat the same cluster repeats
The surface ground, slightly open glassy, sealed by the glaze
A chip at the edge reveals more of the same stone reveals pale body underneath
Re-groundable yes no, once the print wears it is gone
Needs sealing yes, by grade no

Why the processes are not interchangeable

The repeat test is the one that catches a printed tile in a showroom, and it is worth doing because the two are sold under the same name. It works because a printed surface is manufactured as a set of faces: the pattern has to repeat across production runs, which is exactly what makes it cheap. Real aggregate does not repeat, because no two casts of the same mix distribute their chips the same way. The edge test is the one that catches a buyer who has already bought, because the difference between an aggregate that runs through the tile and a printed face is visible on a broken corner and on nothing else.

What these figures are, and what they are not

The differences described are what the two products are; ⛔ no figure on this page is a measurement of ours and none is offered. ⛔ We sell real terrazzo and we do not sell a printed lookalike, so there is nothing here that helps us sell something else — which is the point of publishing it.

Measured data sheets and test reports

If you are specifying this

These are the forms we actually supply for this question, with production photographs where we have them:

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