ForMatter/Processes/formative/Pavé Setting
proc_setting_pave

Pavé Setting

formative · pave, pavé set, bead set, micro-pavé
highlast updated 2026-04-27

A setting style where small stones are held in place by tiny metal beads raised from the surrounding metal with a graver — the result is a surface so densely covered with stones that the metal nearly disappears. "Pavé" is the French word for paved, and pavé jewelry looks like the metal has been paved with stones. Micro-pavé pushes the technique to stones below 1 mm — the territory of microscopes at the bench.

Stones (typically 0.8–2 mm diameter) seat in burred recesses cut into the surface; metal between adjacent stones is raised into beads with a graver, the beads pushed over each stone's girdle with a beading tool. Metal density at the surface is high enough that adjacent beads share their structural function. Micro-pavé extends the technique to <1 mm stones, requires bench microscopes, and produces stone-density approaching the limit of what the metal can hold.

Scale & Tolerance

  • scale (mm)1 – 100
  • tolerance (mm)0.02
  • skilladvanced — pavé and especially micro-pavé sit at the technical apex of the stone-setting trade
  • costlow equipment cost, very high labor cost — pavé pricing is mostly setting time

Equipment

  • school_shopgravers (40°, 60°, 90°, knife-edge), beading tools, setting burs, optical loupe (10×)
  • professionalGRS / Lindsay precision-graver system, bench microscope (10–40×), pneumatic hammer handpiece

Environmental

  • energy_uselow
  • waste_streammetal sweeps (refiner-recovered)
  • consumablesgraver tips, burs
Compatible materials
18k Yellow Gold
14k Yellow Gold
18k White Gold (Palladium-Whitened)
Platinum 950 (Pt950)
Palladium 950 (Pd950)

Citations