What Is Pavé Setting?

Pavé setting is a stone-setting technique in which small gemstones, usually diamonds, are set closely together across a surface, held in place by tiny beads or prongs of metal raised between each stone, so that the underlying metal mount is almost entirely hidden. The name comes from the French word for “paved”, as in a paved street.

What Pavé Setting Is Structurally

In a pavé-set surface, small stones of a similar size sit in closely spaced seats cut into the metal, positioned as near to one another as practical. At each point where stones meet, tiny beads of metal are raised from the surface between them and pushed over the stones’ edges, so that each bead may help hold two, three or four neighbouring stones. Because the stones sit close together and the beads are kept small, the finished surface reads as a continuous field of stone with very little visible metal. Pavé is a form of what jewellers call bead setting or grain setting, in which stones are held by beads raised from the surrounding metal rather than by separate claws or a collet.

How Pavé Setting Was Done

The work followed a standard sequence that changed little between the 18th and 20th centuries:

1. Marking and drilling. The setter marked out the positions of the stones and drilled a hole through the metal at each one. The holes let light reach the stones from behind and, on the back of a piece, often form a honeycomb of round openings.
2. Seating. Each hole was opened out with a burr or cutter to the shape of the stone’s underside, so that it sat level with its neighbours.
3. Raising beads. With a graver (a small hand-held cutting tool, the same kind used for engraving), the setter cut into the metal between stones and pushed a small sliver forward over the edge of a stone.
4. Rounding. Each sliver was shaped into a neat dome with a beading tool - a steel punch with a small hemispherical hollow in its tip - which was rocked over it.
5. Finishing. The metal between beads was often bright-cut with a graver, leaving small faceted channels that reflect light and add to the sparkle.

The skill lay in keeping every stone level and every bead even across a whole surface, since a single high stone or crooked bead shows clearly in a closely packed field.

Pavé Through the Period

• 18th and early 19th centuries. Small rose-cut diamonds and paste were pavé-set in silver, usually in closed-back mounts, on buckles, brooches and clasps. Cut-steel jewellery imitated the same look with faceted steel studs.
• Early and mid-Victorian, c.1830-1870. Pavé-set turquoise and half-pearls were among the most characteristic looks of the period, covering serpent necklaces and bracelets, forget-me-not brooches, lockets and domed clusters. See Turquoise in Victorian Jewellery.
• Late Victorian, c.1870-1900. As South African diamonds became plentiful, small old-cut diamonds were pavé-set in silver-topped gold on star, crescent, insect and animal brooches.
• Edwardian, c.1900-1914. Platinum’s strength allowed smaller beads and thinner metal between stones. Cartier, Boucheron, Chaumet and London jewellers used platinum pavé in garland-style brooches, bow brooches and the openwork panels of tiaras and dog-collar plaques, often with milgrain edges.
• Art Deco, 1920s-1930s. Pavé-set diamond grounds were combined with calibré-cut coloured stones, carved emeralds or onyx in geometric designs, and large flat pavé-set bracelets became a defining form of the 1920s.

Pavé Versus Channel and Calibré Settings

In pavé setting, each small stone is secured by metal beads raised around it, and while the stones sit close together, each has its own securing points. In channel setting, stones are cut to precise, matching sizes and shapes - calibré cutting - so that they fit edge to edge into a continuous metal channel, held by the channel’s walls alone. Calibré-cut coloured stones set this way are particularly associated with Art Deco jewellery, where precisely fitted geometric bands of colour were a favoured device. Pavé shows tiny beaded points of metal across its surface, while channel-set calibré work shows a smooth, unbroken run of stone with the channel walls visible only at the edges. See Stone-Setting Styles Explained for the full range of settings.

How to Recognise It

Look for small stones of broadly similar size, set closely together across a surface, with tiny individual beads of metal visible between them rather than a continuous smooth channel. Well-executed pavé shows even, closely spaced beading with minimal visible metal; less carefully executed or mass-produced pavé may show coarser, irregular beading or wider gaps between stones. The metal and the cut of the stones help place a piece: rose-cut or old-cut diamonds in silver-topped gold point to the 19th century, while very small, fine beads in white platinum point to the 20th.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does pavé setting use a specific type of stone? Pavé is most commonly associated with small diamonds, though turquoise, half-pearls, coloured stones and paste were also pavé-set; the term refers to the setting method rather than to a specific gemstone.

Is pavé the same as a “diamond-set” or “stone-set” description generally? No - those broader terms can refer to many different setting methods, including claw, collet, channel and pavé setting; “pavé” specifically describes the closely packed, individually beaded arrangement described here.