Pave Settings - post 120

    Settings in Jewelry - 5  Pave Settings  Post 120.  

 #6836  

I'm not about to compete with the OED or Miriam Webster. This is no dictionary, but if you are serious about jewelry, you should be familiar with certain terminology. 

Of course you don't want to look ignorant.  It’s not just to look good in front of professionals in the industry that you should know what pave and other settings mean. You should ensure that you appreciate and understand what you are looking at as this translates direction into $$ lost or $$ earned. 

We have been looking at a few terms and concepts pertaining to settings. 
In our discussion about different settings, we learned that settings hold gemstones in place, but sometimes, they can detract from the gems and the general design of the jewel.  Initially settings were cumbersome and clumsy, but slowly prong settings were invented that helped free the gem from the metal mount. 

While some bigger stones are held in their own personal mount or group of prongs, sometimes the jewelry maker wants to create a massed effect using smaller stones.  He sets these small stones alongside one another, held in place by little prongs, that we learned about last week (post 150). The effect is like an ocean or a carpet of gems.  

By the 19th century, it was common to see pave mounted jewels. Pave is from the French word for paved and that gives us a good picture of what the word means. We find many examples of Victorian jewelry with similar gemstones set side by side, in a seeming carpet of blue turquoise or sparkling diamonds. The stones are held in place by tiny prongs, bent over the corners of the gems. Small, but still visible.  The finely set stones of a single type are called pave set. (pa as in father; ve as in oy vey). Pave set stones may be faceted or set en cabochon. The effect of the whole is certainly greater than that of the constituent parts, but the metal mount, albeit tiny, is still visible. The small 'dots' of metal securing each individual gem breaks the continuity of the set gems - much like a painting that shows the outlines of each object. In pave settings, gems are very often round in shape.

 

#4804 emerald and diamond ring - like a sea of diamonds.  

Ideally, the finest pave work has the smallest possible metal prongs showing and the least amount of space between gems. When looking at antique jewelry, go for the items that look like a continuous mass with no metal or space between gems. 

#7081. Pave set diamonds, showing the little metal claws that hold them in place.

Ideally, the metal of the mounts became smaller and smaller and decreasingly conspicuous. 

Up to the early 20th century, no matter how great the jeweler, no matter how fine the mount, it was still visible. 
Sometimes, clever craftsmen incorporated the metal into the design and used it to enhance the appearance of the gemstones. 
But, it was still there. 

 

#7330. Metal hardly visible thanks to beautiful French workmanship. 

Next week we will learn about overcoming this problem. 

Pave set gems showing prongs and spaces between gems.

Questions and comments: Please email antiques@brendaginsberg.com
Find jewelry on www.brendaginsberg.com
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The full series of metal settings are in the following order:
151 introduction to metal settings
123 pulled gold 
148 collet
150 prongs
120 pave
121 channel
277 invisible 
149 gypsy /flush
278 others