Pave Diamond Engagement Rings: Paved Beauty

Here’s a look at pave diamond engagement rings, how they are made, how they are used in diamond rings and why they have captured people’s hearts over the years

They are very beautiful rings but why do some people shy away from them?

The term pave is French and means paved or cobble-stoned.

This name is very fitting as the design does look like a cobble stoned pavement with tiny diamonds on it.

How do you go about achieving a pave look?

First, small diamonds which have to be picked up with tweezers/pincers as they could be as small as 1mm or 0.005 carats (now that’s tiny).

They are cut just like the bigger diamonds all 58 facets in the case of round or brilliant cut diamonds.

This alone is quite an amazing accomplishment as the cutter has to use a loupe or magnified lens to see the facets on the stones.

Small holes are then drilled in to the shank of the ring in rows.

The tiny diamonds are then placed in to the holes in such a way as to fill as much space as they can without them touching each other & with as little of the metal showing.

After the stones are placed in the holes, tiny bits of metal are used to create beads that hold the tiny diamonds in place.

Creating pave diamond engagement rings is very demanding as it is done by hand & it has traditionally required the jeweler doing it to be very experienced and patient.

Nowadays, there is CAD-CAM (computer aided design & computer aided manufacturing) where a ring is designed on a computer and then manufactured with a computer cut mould.

This technology has helped cut on production time & the hard labour that had to be put in the manufacturing of jewelry.

In the case of pave rings, small round diamonds are set in perfectly formed little prongs on the wax mould.

Cad-Cam technology helps jewellery designers to manufacture more complex pave designs than could be done by hand.

There is a term used in the jewellery industry know as Micro-Pave what is it?

Micro-pave is when very tiny diamonds are set on a ring using a microscope to magnify the ring so that the jeweller can place the tiny diamonds and beads next to each other.

Needless to say it is very tiring and precise work but the results are truly amazing.

Pave diamonds are used to cover the whole surface of the ring or part of a ring depending on the desired effect.

They are normally used as accent stones around a central diamond and then partly or fully along the shank of the diamond.

This creates an amazing look as the brilliance of the center diamond is magnified by the paved diamonds.

THERE ARE 2 MAIN REASONS SOME PEOPLE SHY AWAY FROM PAVE RINGS

• The tiny diamonds seem like they could get lost quite easily

• It is difficult to clean pave rings

1) Pave diamond engagement rings could have upwards of 150 diamonds on one ring so the chances of some of the tiny diamonds falling off are high.

However if you take care of your pave ring and don’t hit it on hard surfaces on a regular basis, the stones stay where they are.

The second thing to note is that where you buy your pave diamond engagement ring matters a lot.

You should only buy a pave diamond ring from a trusted jeweller or company whose work is recognized.

2) Pave rings are harder to clean than other rings due to the nature of their design.

Avoid cleaning pave rings with ultrasonic cleaning machines. The pressure and motion caused by the cleaner could remove some of the paved stones.

Regular and delicate hand cleaning with soapy water and a soft brush will do just fine.

One last thing to consider is that pave diamond engagement rings are not resizable.

If you put on excess weight and the ring gets tight on you, it cannot be made larger.

As you finally your pave diamond engagement rings, appreciate what goes in to making one and enjoy it to the fullest.

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