Artists achieve captivating contrasts between smooth and jagged stone edges through a combination of technical precision and creative vision. The process begins with careful stone selection, as materials like marble or limestone offer different working properties. For smooth surfaces, sculptors employ progressively finer abrasives - starting with coarse rasps (60-80 grit) and finishing with polishing compounds (up to 3000 grit). This creates reflective surfaces that can achieve up to 95% light reflectance when properly finished.

Jagged edges are intentionally preserved or created using specialized tools. Point chisels with 90° tips create dramatic fractures, while bush hammers with pyramidal teeth (typically 4-6 points/cm²) produce controlled rough textures. Modern artists often combine pneumatic tools (operating at 15,000-25,000 BPM) with traditional hand tools for precision texturing.

The visual impact comes from strategic placement - smooth areas often comprise 60-70% of the surface, making jagged elements (30-40%) stand out through calculated imbalance. Lighting plays a crucial role; angled light at 45° exaggerates texture differences by creating shadows up to 3 times deeper on rough surfaces compared to polished ones. Contemporary artists like Peter Randall-Page frequently employ these techniques, sometimes creating texture differentials of up to 2cm depth within a single sculpture.

Advanced practitioners may use chemical treatments - oxalic acid solutions (3-5% concentration) can enhance surface differences by reacting differently with polished versus rough areas. This approach can increase visual contrast by up to 40% compared to untreated stone. The most successful works balance these technical approaches with artistic intuition, creating dynamic pieces where viewers simultaneously perceive both tactile and visual contrasts.