HOW can I identify a polished marble?

[srb1962]

A couple of the marbles I've posted recently for ID have been possibly identified as being polished. Since I've never polished one, nor bought one known to be polished, can anyone provide some tips and indicators that will help ID them AS polished? Are there telltale signs or things to look for when examining under magnification? THANX, in advance.

[chucks_mibs]

Hey Steve, here are a few signs to go by:
-Under a loupe you will see microscopic bubble pops where the glass now reaveals "close to the surface" bubbles that are now exposed as a result of a layer of missing glass.
-Most marbles will have some degree of 'out of roundness" where the majority of polished marbles will be perfectly round.
-The glass on polished marbles will have a high degree of luster (some cases "slippery" in hand)
-Sometimes the ribbons will have a sudden disappearance and re-appearance effect throughout the marbles surface.
-Colors have the tendency to change from brighter to dull (expecially peltier mibs)
-Minute differences from 1/64 to 1/32 off of the standard sizes are often indicators as well

[lstmmrbls]

I have found the fastest and easiest way to tell a polished marble is to slowly roll the marble around in your fingers while looking at a light reflected on its surface. It will always look exactly the same on a polished marble. On an unpolished mib the reflection will wiggle dance or change shape slightly as you look at it while rolling the marble in your fingers. Peace,Galen

[Splattman]

Identifying a polished marble from a picture can be difficult to impossible except in ideal circumstances, both Chuck Jr. and Galen bring good indicaters when you have the marble "in-hand". From a picture, say on Ebay or other auction sites, look for sharp edges around airhole pops and fading at the seams or ribbons edging....Peltier marbles often loose good color and there are many more example indicator's only learned thru experience when handling or viewing polished marbles....

S~

[cairlinne]

An excellent way to determine whether a marble has been polished is to check out some of the little dings that will still probably remain. If you notice that the edges are cliff-like, falling off sharply from the surface of the marble into the pit of the ding, then you should be suspicious. Most glass chips on a marble that isn't polished will not display such razor sharp edges at the boundary where the surface is damaged, they'll be ragged or somehow more "natural" looking, going chaotically or gradually from surface into pit. You'll need a good light and a magnifying loupe of probably at least 10x to really see anything up close enough to notice this, but you might try taking a look at a used marble that you know ISN'T polished, checking out how the chips and sparkles and dings on the surface look. Then, compare that to a marble which is known to be polished, if possible, or else to one that's suspected.

Another way to determine that a marble has been polished is when you discover that you have in hand a peewee sized marble made by a maker that was never known to have made marbles that small. This is how I found out quite a lot about what polished marbles look like -- I guess didn't pay very much attention to the size of the marbles I saw listed in an eBay auction, or maybe that detail wasn't even mentioned in the description, I can't recall. So, I ended up with a very nice pair of very peewee sized akro corkscrew type marbles as a result. Fortunately, I did not pay too dearly for this educational experience.

At any rate, I now know quite a lot more than I used to about what a polished marble actually looks like. If you'd like to take a look at one of these marbles as an educational example, let me know and I'll see about sending one out to you on loan.

Caroline

[srb1962]

As far as "dimples" and other imperfections go on marbles, IF it's been polished are you saying that the edges of exposed dimples will be sharper and less "rounded" than an "as made" dimple?

[lstmmrbls]

Yes or gone altogether. It is a different story for marbles that have only been given a finish polish(buff). With those you pretty much need a good magnifier(loop) to tell. peace,Galen

[Pete]

Examine marbles un der at least 10x magnification. All unpolished marbles have lines in the surface - sort of like a wood's grain, they tend to be parallel and go in the same direction. Handmade marble lines will all twist together, following the twist of the glass. Machine-made marble lines will bend and twist more more, as their glass pattern will usually do more than simply spiral from pole to pole (Akro corks do though...)

Polished marbles will be utterly devoid of *any* lines - they are too perfect. Air bubbles that have been polished open is a dead give-away. A marble that appears mint will often have exposed air holes under magnification.

I can usually tell a marble is polished with the naked eye just due to the too-perfect surface and lack of surface lines.

[russellF]

I noticed several comments about polished marbles being off the "standard sizes." Any good reference materials as to what the standard sizes are for various makes? thanks
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Russ