Pave Diamond Rings - More Bling for Your Buck

If we drew a function between the weight and the price of diamonds, the graph of the function would not quite be a line but an exponential curve. Or, to put it in a much more simpler way: ten diamonds of 10 points (0.1 carats) would cost a lot less than a single diamond weighing a full carat even though their total weight is the same.

You can easily take advantage of this property by installing a range of small diamonds instead of a big feature diamond or as side stones. This alternative can result in a stunning ring and keep your budget in check. Let us take a look at what these small diamonds - called pave diamonds, pronounced "pah-vay" - are all about.

The Explanation Behind the Pricing Phenomenon

Diamond roughs come in various sizes ranging from a few points to hundreds of carats. However, it seems logical that heavier, bigger roughs pop up quite rarely while tiny stones are almost ubiquitous in the appropriate places. The ubiquity of diamonds decreases as their size increases. As a direct consequence, the price of diamonds exponentially rises with their size.

Different Types of Pave Diamonds

When it comes to designing pave diamond rings, there are three main alternatives to choose from. Your first option is to choose a single band ring: in this setting, a single line of small pave diamonds is set one next to the other.

The next option is the three-dimensional band, where three or five rows of small diamonds are encrusted on the ring, providing a seamless, continuous surface that has a sparkle that simulates a single, coherent diamond surface. In general, the more rows you want to use, the smaller the individual diamonds will be and the visual experience will thus become richer and richer.

Even though you can decrease the price of the total price of the diamonds by decreasing their size and increasing their number, if you opt to use a myriad of microscopic diamonds the amount you saved on the diamonds will be counterbalanced by the cost of workmanship that you have to pay to the jeweler for mounting the stones. The third and final type of pave diamond rings is when there is a main feature gem stone in the middle of the ring and pave diamonds are only used as a pavement.