Antique jewelry glossary

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Tumbling

The process of shaping and polishing rough stones of inferior quality by mutual attrition, by spinning them in a revolving barrel together with water and first an abrasive and then polishing powder. The process was used from ancient times until the 1600s when faceting was introduced; but in recent years tumbling has again come into use.

From: An Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, autor: Harold Newman, publishers: Thames and Hudson