Pave Diamonds
When you're shopping for diamond jewerly you'll probably encounter the term pave (pavé) diamond, often in association with some of the more stunning high end rings you can buy. They're especially popular as engagement, wedding or eternity rings.
What Are Pave Diamonds?
The term "pave" doesn't apply to any particular type of diamond, rather it's a type of setting. Pave set diamond jewelry consists of a large number of small diamonds set extremely close together so that none of the underlying metal is visible. The name comes from the French word for pavement, which is appropriate as the end result resembles an old-fashioned cobbled street. The jewelry looks as if it's "paved" with diamonds.So how are all these diamonds held in place? One method is the use of tiny holes in the surface of the piece into which the stones are fixed. Another is the use of tiny prongs which are set into the jewelry then used to fasten the diamonds in place.
Whatever the method used there is a large amount of skilled work involved. For this reason the price of pave set diamond jewelry is usually high, especially if any surface larger than that of a ring is involved.
Because of the large number of delicately set stones, pave set jewelry should be handled carefully. If mistreated it's possible for the stones to come loose and drop out.