POLISHED GRANITE

Granite is diorite pushed a step further, 1 diorite and 1 quartz, and that extra quartz is what gives it the warm, pinkish cast the other two stones do not have. Polishing it smooths that colour out into something closer to a finished building material, and the Mason sells it that way already: 1 emerald at journeyman for 4.

It is the one people reach for next to brick, terracotta and other warm toned blocks, where the grey of polished andesite or the near white of polished diorite would clash instead of blend.

One trade, one villager type: the Mason sells it at journeyman for 1 emerald per 4, and there is no second source to weigh it against anywhere in the trade tables.

The price sits fixed in the game's own data rather than rolling within a range, so shopping around between masons only changes how much stock is left, never the rate.

Polished Granite sells for as little as 1 emerald for 4 at a time, from the Mason at the Journeyman tier, and 7 of the other 9 cost less. The price is fixed rather than rolled, so a second Mason will quote you exactly the same.

The Mason at its journeyman tier asks 1 emerald for 4 polished granite. 8 of the 72 villagers that pay emeralds, emptied out:

an acacia boat against 32 rotten flesh for the same 1 emerald, 32 times the carrying, and the shortest wait is the Butcher at 37.5 real seconds of shelf, gathering not counted.

Claiming a stonecutter turns any unemployed villager into a Mason, starting at Novice with an empty list where this trade will eventually sit. It only appears once he reaches journeyman, level 3 of five, 70 trading experience past the start.

From journeyman onward the offer runs 16 times before it locks, and a restock needs him back at his workstation, up to twice a Minecraft day. Breaking that stonecutter before he reaches this tier undoes the climb; after it, the profession is his permanently.

16 uses empty the slot, and the refill after that takes 2 real minutes no matter how fast you clicked through it. A Minecraft day, 20 real minutes, allows exactly two of those refills.

Camp for both and one mason sells 32 uses in a day, 128 blocks for 32 emeralds. Come back three days later instead and the same offer is still sitting there, untouched by the time that passed.

Buying the whole slot costs 16 emeralds for 64 blocks. Do it in one trip since the price will be identical on your next visit anyway.

The same villager pays an emerald per 10 clay balls, which is an easy way to turn river digging into the currency this trade needs.

Also on the Mason's list: polished diorite, dripstone block, nether quartz, colored terracotta, glazed terracotta, and quartz pillar.

Granite is the pink-brown one of the three speckled stones, and polishing it removes the speckle and leaves a warm flat surface. That warmth is the point: it is the only common stone that is not grey, so it does a job sandstone and terracotta otherwise have to do.

Four granite give four polished, with no loss, and a stonecutter cuts slabs and stairs from it directly. It mines into itself rather than into cobblestone, so a build made of it can be taken apart and rebuilt.

It pairs badly with everything pink and well with dark wood, which is most of the reason it turns up in floors and fireplaces rather than in walls.