Pavé setting

Pavé is small gemstones set closely together to create a continuous surface of sparkle, commonly used along the band or in halo designs. The word is French for “paved”, which fits a surface covered edge to edge.

The result is a band or halo that glitters with very little visible metal. It is common on the band of a solitaire and on wedding bands, where it adds sparkle without changing the centre stone.

Pavé uses bead setting. The setter drills a hole in the metal and cuts a rounded seat with a burr. The stone goes into the seat, then small amounts of metal are lifted against its edge with a graver and rounded off with a beading tool.

That differs from a prong setting, where narrow strips of metal bend over the stone. In pavé each stone is held by a few tiny beads of metal raised from the band itself. That gives the surface its look, and pavé may need occasional maintenance to keep the stones secure.

Pavé may require occasional maintenance to keep the stones secure. Settings with many small details, such as halo and pavé designs, collect dirt more easily, and prong and pavé settings usually benefit from periodic inspection. A ring's longevity also does not come from design alone: design, craftsmanship and finishing all count.

So pavé can last, but it asks more of you than a plain band. Look at it every so often under good light, check that the stones sit level, and take the ring in if one is missing or a bead looks flattened. For home cleaning, use warm water, mild soap and a soft brush, with periodic professional cleaning.

If your hands take knocks at work or in the gym, ask whether stones on the top half of the band suit you better than stones all the way round.

Pavé-set bands can be more difficult to resize. For channel-set rings, resizing is especially hard when the stones extend far around the band. The same logic is a fair guide here: the further the stones run, the less plain metal there is to work with.

So the useful question is where the stones stop. If the ring is a surprise and the finger size is a guess, that matters. Read the ring size guide, and ask the jeweller about leaving the lower part of the band plain or about making the ring to a confirmed size.

The term is used for pavé made with very small stones. It is trade usage, so treat it as a description rather than a specification. The practical step is to ask for the stone size in millimetres and the number of stones, so you can compare two rings on the same terms.

The same idea shows up in a hidden halo, and in an eternity band set with stones all the way round. If you want to see pavé on a hand, visit a showroom or browse wedding bands. To plan one, start in the design studio, and a custom engagement ring can be designed with the band and size questions answered first.