Natural Stone
Natural stone is extracted from stone quarries around the world. Depending on the quarry boulders, most are wire-cut blocks made into various shapes and sizes and extracted from the quarry. They are then taken to a sawing plant. Stone is then cut into strips and then finished. Finishing stone is similar to a sanding process, where various grits are applied to give it a smooth, shiny or matt surface. The finer the grit, the smoother the stone is. Different stones take different finishes. For example, it is better to have a matt ( or honed ) finish on limestone and shiny or polished finish on marble. There are thousands of stones in the world with different chemical compositions. Experienced Stone Craftsmen determine the amount and degree of finishes for each stone.

The most common finishes are:
From rough to fine in increasing order:
Natural Cleft
Chiseled
Tumbled
Antiqued
Honed
Polished
 
  Natural Stone List