Pave Engagement Rings

If your partner requires that extra bit of sparkle, consider one of the many breathtaking pavé, pronounced “pa-vay,” engagement rings you’ll find at Ben Garelick Jewelers. The word pavé comes from the French word for “paved” and these engagement rings appear as if they are paved with diamonds. Ben Garelick Jewelry experts hand-select our diamond pavé engagement rings to give you that one-of-a-kind radiance that will reflect from her ring and her heart.

What Is A Pavé Diamond Engagement Ring?

Pavé diamond settings are commonly seen in engagement rings and can help achieve the illusion of a larger center diamond. The pavé design is achieved by using small beads of the precious metal of your choice applied in the spaces between the diamonds to secure them in place and create a glittering unbroken expanse of light and sparkle. These small beads often add a vintage or traditional look to our engagement rings. The pave setting is often combined with milgrain where a tiny row of beads acts as the border of a ring. These types of settings were used during the Edwardian and Art Deco eras.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Are pave engagement rings popular right now?

Pave is one of the most requested details in the store, though it now shows up as an accent rather than the whole design. The current preference is for finer, more restrained work: micro pave running partway down the shoulders and stopping, or a single row rather than the wraparound sparkle of a decade ago. Hidden halos, which are really pave applied underneath the center stone, have become almost standard on larger centers. What has not changed is why people want it. Pave adds light around the diamond for a fraction of what a larger center stone would cost.

What does a pave engagement ring symbolize?

There is no single traditional meaning, and anyone who tells you otherwise is inventing it. What couples tend to describe is accumulation: dozens of small stones adding up to something brighter than any of them alone, which is a fair enough metaphor for a shared life. Others simply like that the whole ring catches light rather than one point of it. The word "pave" comes from the French for "paved," referring to the way the surface is covered so completely in diamonds that the metal nearly disappears. Most people choose it because it is beautiful, and that is reason enough.

How much do pave engagement rings cost?

Pave settings here mostly run between about $2,700 and $4,800, with the middle near $3,525 and our most elaborate designer pieces climbing past $26,000. That is the setting with its accent diamonds, not the center stone. You are paying primarily for labor. Setting thirty or forty small diamonds individually by hand is slow, skilled work, and that is what separates a pave setting that stays tight for decades from one that starts shedding stones. Price rises with platinum and with the number of rows. Buying the setting separately means you can choose the center stone on its own merits, mined or lab grown.

Are pave engagement rings durable for everyday wear?

Yes, provided the stones are set properly in a well made mounting. Each small diamond sits in its own drilled seat, held by tiny beads or prongs of metal, and years of daily wear can eventually work one loose. That is normal rather than a defect, and it is why we like to see pave rings on the bench once a year for a prong check under magnification. What actually damages pave is impact, not abrasion, so take the ring off for the gym, gardening, and moving furniture. Platinum holds pave the most gracefully because it bends rather than wearing away, while fourteen karat gold gives you most of that strength for less.

Can pave engagement rings be resized?

It depends on how far the pave travels. If the diamonds stop partway down the shoulders and leave plain metal at the bottom, our jewelers can size the ring normally with no visible trace. If the pave runs all the way around the band, there is no clean metal to cut and rejoin, and resizing becomes limited, sometimes to half a size, sometimes not practical at all. This is the single most important question to ask before buying a pave ring, and we would rather raise it now than after the proposal. If you are guessing at the finger size, we will steer you toward styles that leave the base plain.

How do you clean a pave engagement ring at home?

Pave gets dull faster than plain settings because every one of those small stones has a seat that collects lotion and soap. Soak the ring twenty to thirty minutes in warm water with a few drops of mild dish soap, then brush gently with a soft toothbrush, going over the pave rows and then underneath the center stone. Be gentle rather than vigorous, since aggressive scrubbing can eventually work at the tiny beads holding the stones. Rinse with the drain closed and dry with a lint-free cloth. Twice a year let us run it through the ultrasonic, which cleans between the accent stones properly.

Can you customize a pave engagement ring?

Yes. How much pave, and where, is the main decision, and it changes the ring's character more than most people expect. You can run it half, three-quarters, or all the way around, stop it at the shoulders, add a second row, or move it underneath as a hidden halo. Metal is your choice across ten, fourteen and eighteen karat white, yellow, and rose gold, or platinum, and two tone looks sharp with a white gold pave row on a yellow gold band. Most of these settings are made to order. If you want a specific look, send us a photo, and our jewelers will tell you what is buildable and what is not.

What is the difference between pave and micro pave engagement rings?

It is a matter of stone size and, consequently, of labor. Standard pave uses accent diamonds roughly one to two millimeters across, set in a single visible row with small beads of metal holding them. Micro pave uses stones under about one millimeter, often set in multiple tight rows, so the metal almost disappears and the surface reads as a continuous sparkle. Micro pave looks more refined and costs more because there are many more stones to set, each requiring work under a microscope. It is also slightly more delicate, since smaller beads hold smaller stones. Look at both under a loupe in the showroom, because photographs flatten the difference completely.