Janie... no. All of the skillets I have are "polished". The process is not just "polishing" but no need to get into particulars. If you read my post with the email reply from Lodge, the bullshit 'sales pitch' is that the 'rock finish' is a part of the sand casting process. Of course it is. Always was. The bullshit is that they try to tell us that the quality pan that we expect requires OUR effort to 'season it over time'. Well, the rough finish on my Crappy Tire pan would take a long time to season smooth. That's why I am taking it back. And, if the Lodge I ordered doesn't arrive polished (as can happen, right?), I will not accept it and I will continue to use my Gramps' pan until my arthritis causes me to drop it, set my kitchen on fire and I die happy, knowing I didn't buy a cheap piece of broken America, whether it was from Lodge or China.