What is Pavé Diamonds, Anyway?
How do you pronounce pavé?
As we’ve just covered, you will be asked about your pavé diamond pieces (that eye-catching sparkle makes questions inevitable). So the first step is to know, quite literally, how to answer.
Pavé is pronounced pah-vay.
So Frenchy and so chic, that accented ‘e’ plays a similar role to the silent last letters in some of our favourite French words. So if you find yourself getting stuck, just think: ballet. Très. Gourmet. Timothée Chalamet.
What is pavé jewellery?
Pavé refers to jewellery styles that feature multiple tiny diamonds or gemstones, set close together to achieve a textured, sparkling surface. It’s kind of like a mosaic or a paved footpath; in fact, pavé is the French term for ‘paved.’
The setting features very fine prongs to hold the stones, and the metal setting may be barely visible to create more of a solid diamond surface appearance, or it may show through to add a little more dimension to the piece.
The effect is timeless yet unique. Grouping together multiple smaller diamonds allows jewellers to create a fluid row of stones, or cluster them together into particular shapes.
The resulting sparkle is also something to be coveted, with many micro diamonds reflecting the light from their multiple facets, for a look that twinkles from all angles.
At Medley, you can find a range of modern pavé diamond jewellery in our collection of Micro Diamonds. This includes diamond pavé hearts, as well as our micro diamond letters, words, zodiac signs, tennis bracelets, black diamond earrings, and more.
- diamond pavé heart earrings in 10k gold
- diamond letter h single stud earring in 10k gold
What’s the difference between pavé rows and clusters?
Pavé jewellery can be found in two different styles: rows and clusters. A pavé row, as the name suggests, is a straight line of diamonds set side-by-side. This might take the form of a ring, especially and engagement or wedding ring set with diamonds, or the ever-popular and classic diamond tennis bracelet, with its fluid and light-catching design.
A cluster refers to diamonds set into another shape; this could be anything from a simple bar or circle, to a love heart, a letter, or a word.
- diamond letter m necklace in 10k gold
- diamond love necklace in 10k gold
How do I care for pavé diamond jewellery?
You can care for your pavé diamond jewellery similarly to the way you’d look after any diamond jewellery.
The best way to clean your pavé diamond jewellery at home is to pop your pieces into a bowl of warm, soapy water and let them soak for a few minutes. If there’s some built-up grime, use a very soft toothbrush (we’d recommend a baby toothbrush) to gently clean around the stones. An important difference to note when cleaning pavé jewellery as opposed to a solitaire style, is that our micro diamond jewellery contains very fine metal settings; so you should work very gently and carefully so as not to disturb the settings. Once you’re happy, rinse off your pavé jewellery, pat dry with a soft cloth, then leave somewhere safe to air-dry fully.
- slim diamond pavè boyfriend ring in 10k gold
- diamond pavè boyfriend ring in 10k gold
- diamond pavè huggie earrings in 10k gold
- slim diamond pavè huggie earrings in 10k gold
As with all precious jewellery, we’d advise that you take your pieces off at the end of the day and store them safely in a jewellery box. It’s also best to take rings and bracelets off before doing household cleaning (or, if you must keep them on, pop protective gloves over the top) to avoid contact with any harsh chemicals.
See our 'Guide to Cleaning Jewellery at Home' for more information on keeping your precious jewellery sparkling!
Now that you know all about pavé diamond jewellery (and how to talk about it!), explore some of our favourite micro diamond styles.
