Stair Materials

What is the best material for stairs?

We are having white polished concrete floors downstairs, and the first (large square) step will be some form of stone. I'm thinking a nice even rich brown colour to compliment the natural colours in the white concrete.
I was thinking of timber of some description, but will it really stand the test of time? We had carpet in our last home and it was like a door mat, just picked up all the dirt through the house since it was the ONLY carpet in the home, and was covered in dust in places the vacuum couldn't reach.
If timber is the best other option, which timber would work well with the white conrcrete floors? We've got a bit of a chocolate theme through the home (kitchen is espresso and white at this stage, with brown almost woodlike tiles in 2-3 bathrooms). I'm not a huge fan of the red tinged timbers, but at the end of the day I want whatever is going to perform the best.

Would appreciate personal opinions, thank you.