What Materials Are Used to Make Tumbled Stones?

The most popular materials used for making tumbled stones are attractive and colorful rocks and minerals that have a Mohs hardness between 5 and 8. These materials are generally durable and accept a good polish. Some of the most commonly tumbled materials are listed below.

**Tumbled jasper:** Jasper is another type of rock that is a favorite of people who tumble stones. Shown in this photo are red jasper, brecciated jasper, picture jasper, yellow jasper, and more.

Varieties of Chalcedony

Agate (a translucent, banded variety of microcrystalline quartz)
Bloodstone (a green jasper with bright red markings that resemble blood splatter)
Jasper (an opaque variety of microcrystalline quartz with abundant mineral inclusions)

Varieties of Crystalline Quartz

Amethyst (a transparent purple quartz that sometimes has color-zoning or banding)
Aventurine (a translucent quartz with abundant reflective mineral inclusions)
Citrine (a transparent yellow to orange quartz)
Orange Quartz
Rock Crystal (transparent quartz)
Rose Quartz (pink quartz)
Smoky Quartz (a transparent brown quartz)
Tiger’s-Eye (crystalline quartz that has replaced crocidolite)
Yellow Quartz

**Tumbled eye agate:** Some pieces of agate display concentric circles known as “eyes.” These round markings are actually small hemispheres within the outer husk of the agate nodule. Most pieces of agate do not have “eyes,” so stones that do have them are especially prized by collectors.

Minerals

Amazonite (a green variety of microcline feldspar)
Beryl (the mineral of aquamarine, emerald, and heliodor)
Chrysocolla (a blue to green copper mineral usually in quartz)
Fluorite (a colorful mineral composed of calcium and fluorine)
Garnet (a popular gem mineral that occurs in a variety of colors)
Hematite (a silver metallic ore of iron)
Labradorite (a variety of plagioclase feldspar with an iridescent luster)
Malachite (a green banded mineral composed of copper carbonate)
Moonstone (a variety of feldspar that displays adularescence)
Nephrite (a variety of jade)
Orthoclase (a white to pink to gray feldspar mineral)
Rhodonite (a pink magnesium mineral)
Sodalite (a blue silicate mineral)
Sunstone (specimens of labradorite feldspar with reflective mineral inclusions)
Turquoise (a greenish blue copper mineral)

Tumbled obsidian — **Natural glasses:** Obsidian is a natural glass formed during an eruption of silica-rich magma. Shown here are Apache tears, mahogany obsidian, and snowflake obsidian.

Rocks

Basalt (a black, fine-grained igneous rock)
Granite (a coarse-grained igneous rock of quartz and feldspar)
Lapis lazuli (a blue metamorphic rock)
Obsidian (a volcanic glass)
Picasso Stone (a dolomite with markings that resemble the paintings of Picasso)
Quartzite (a metamorphic rock composed of quartz)
Rhyolite (a fine-grained volcanic rock)
Unakite (a granitic igneous rock containing pink orthoclase and green epidote)

Fossil Materials

Mookaite (a colorful radiolarite)
Petrified Wood (fossil wood, preserved by replacement and infilling by chalcedony)
Silicified Coral (a coral preserved by replacement and infilling by chalcedony)
Turritella (a brown agate that contains abundant gastropod fossils)

**Petrified wood:** Pieces of petrified wood can be tumble-polished to reveal wood grain and interesting patterns.

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