A method of processing a super-hard material having a Vickers hardness of no less than 2000 kg/mm 2 , the method comprising: (a) forming a surface of the super-hard material to have a first surface profile within a first root mean square deviation from a smooth target surface profile, said first root mean square deviation being no more than 5 μm; (b) analysing said surface of the super-hard material to detect a plurality of protruding regions on said surface; and (c) selectively processing over only the protruding regions on the surface of the super-hard material to form a second surface profile within a second root mean square deviation from the smooth target surface profile, said second root mean square deviation being no more than 100 nm, wherein selectively processing is achieved by one of: a focused beam; a targeted electric discharge; a masked etch; and a mechanical or chemo-mechanical polishing pad which is smaller in area than the surface of the super-hard material being processed such that selective processing over only protruding regions on the surface of the super-hard material is achieved; characterised in that the surface of the super-hard material has at least one dimension of at least 10 mm and the first and second root mean square deviations are measured over said surface, and wherein the selective processing of each protruding region is performed over an area smaller than the area of the surface of the super-hard material; wherein step (b) comprises calculating an amount of processing at each of the plurality of protruding regions required to form the second surface profile; and step (c) comprises applying said calculated amount of processing at each of the plurality of protruding regions to form the second surface profile; and wherein step (c) comprises sequential processing in which a protruding region is processed to within a required deviation from the smooth target surface profile before moving to a subsequent protruding region which is processed to within a required deviation from the smooth target surface profile, the process being repeated until all the protruding regions have been processed once at which point the second surface profile is formed. (a) forming a surface of the super-hard material to have a first surface profile within a first root mean square deviation from a smooth target surface profile, said first root mean square deviation being no more than 5 μm; (b) analysing said surface of the super-hard material to detect a plurality of protruding regions on said surface; and (c) selectively processing over only the protruding regions on the surface of the super-hard material to form a second surface profile within a second root mean square deviation from the smooth target surface profile, said second root mean square deviation being no more than 100 nm, wherein selectively processing is achieved by one of: a focused beam; a targeted electric discharge; a masked etch; and a mechanical or chemo-mechanical polishing pad which is smaller in area than the surface of the super-hard material being processed such that selective processing over only protruding regions on the surface of the super-hard material is achieved; <EOS>