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Polished
The surface is glossy and smooth. This high gloss finish is possible because of the single most important characteristic of marble: it is made of crystals. The polish is achieved by first grinding the stone with coarse abrasives then progressively on to finer-grit polishing powders until the crystal facets on the surface are perfectly flat across. Light travels straight into the polished crystals and reflects off of the colors inside the stone.

Honed
The surface is smooth but has little or no sheen. Coarse abrasives smooth the surface but stop short of creating perfect reflectivity of the crystals in the stone. When light hits the surface of a honed stone, it scatters and allows little direct reflectivity of its color and character.

Brushed
The surface is smooth to the touch but with subtle surface depressions. This finish is achieved by applying stiff metal bristles over the surface of the stone until the weaker elements are removed. The result is a surface that has an almost waxy feel and very little sheen. An alternative to honing or tumbling, this is perfect for projects requesting a softly aged look.

Tumbled
This finish is honed with an added look of age and distress. The edges of the tile are worn; either chipped or rounded. The beauty of tumbled stone is its antiqued character; it is purposefully made to look old, weathered and trod upon for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. It is acheived by placing pieces of stone together with sand inside a machine that spins causing the stone to age very quickly. An acid-wash is also sometimes used on stone to achieve varying results of surface corrosion, providing an alternative, aged look.

Wavy/Undulated
The surface is smooth to the touch but with a broad, "wavy" or undulating pattern of thickness variation. A thicker piece of honed stone is further ground by a machine that creates varied patterns of undulations across the surface of the tile. Like a brushed surface, this is another alternative surface finish for projects desiring an aged look.

Cleft
This uneven surface is typical of slates and some limestones. Stones comprised of many layers will tend to have surfaces that reveal this fact. The look and feel of a cleft-surfaced stone typically appeals to designs specifying a natural or aged-looking field tile. The bonds holding the layers of a stone such as slate are quite strong. Chipping of cleft surfaces is typically temporary at worst; eventually the weaker surfaces are removed over time leaving the stone's beauty intact.