Is It A Bad Idea To Polish?

[Rylee Burch]

Instead of getting the cloud i was hoping for i got a diffrent one abt 1 5/8 pretty big but thats not the only thing thats big theres a pretty big chip on the side and the surface is pretty dull and i was windering if its a good idea to get polished or leave it as is? i will be posting pics soon still need to get the hang of this site!

[I'llhavethat1]

Hi Rylee, you may get some mixed opinions in response to your question. Some might say that polishing "destroys" the value and collect-ability, while others might say that it improves aesthetics because at least you can see what's going on inside and enjoy the marble's pattern.

I'm assuming you mean a handmade marble that has a fair amount of clear glass encasing the inside pattern. Polishing a marble removes glass and depending on the depth of the damage/dullness a fair amount of glass may need to be removed.

Removing a lot of glass can sometimes expose the "ends" of the inner pattern at each pontil which bugs some people including me, but it's a quick way to tell if a handmade has been polished.

Here are a couple before/after pictures of ~1 5/8" for examples sake **results may vary** lol please excuse the quality if I can get the pics to work. Good luck with your marble what ever you decide to do with it!

I'll also add that chips/dings can add a lot of character to these old marbles. Think of the stories that could be told of games on the playground 100 years ago! I think that's pretty cool in itself.

[99marbles131]

I had someone do a re melt of some of my sulphides, you don't loose as much glass with a remelt. Here's my examples