Pave vs Channel vs Micro-Pave: Which Band Holds Stones
Pavé, channel and micro-pavé all put small stones into a band, and all three fail in different places. The difference is what physically holds each stone — and how much metal the band has to give up to make that possible.
Three mechanisms, not three styles
The names describe how the stone is retained, not how it looks. Pavé and micro-pavé grip the stone at its girdle with small beads of metal pushed over the edge. Channel grips it along two opposite edges with continuous lips of metal. Everything else — the sparkle, the price, the repair bill — follows from that one difference.
This matters because the failure you will eventually have is decided at the bench.
Pavé: beads raised from the metal
Each stone, 1.0mm to 1.8mm, sits in its own seat cut into the band. Two beads are raised from the band surface between adjacent stones and pushed over the girdle with a beading tool. The beads are 0.15–0.25mm across, and there is no wall — the stone sits almost flush, its table within about 0.1mm of the band's surface.
Two beads per stone is the standard. Four is stronger and rarely done below 1.5mm stones, because there is not enough metal between seats to raise them.
Channel: two walls and a lip
Stones of 1.5mm to 2.5mm sit in a continuous groove between two vertical walls. The top edge of each wall is turned over — a lip of 0.25–0.4mm — and that lip is what holds the stone, pressing on the crown edge on both sides. There are no beads anywhere.
The consequence is a solid, protected row: the walls stand slightly proud of the stones, so the stones never touch a surface. The cost is metal. Both walls are 0.6–0.9mm thick, which is why a channel band cannot be narrow.
Micro-pavé: the same idea at a tenth of a millimetre
Stones of 0.7mm to 1.2mm, beads of 0.08–0.12mm, set under 10x to 20x magnification. At that scale the beads stop reading as individual points and merge into a continuous line of light along the band. It is the most fragile of the three and the one that looks most like a solid ribbon of stone.
It also has the least margin. A bead of 0.1mm is roughly the thickness of a sheet of paper; when it goes, the stone goes with it, and neither is visible from arm's length.
Where each one loses stones
| Detail | Pavé | Channel | Micro-pavé |
| What holds the stone | Two raised beads | Two turned-over lips | Two micro beads |
| Stone size | 1.0–1.8mm | 1.5–2.5mm | 0.7–1.2mm |
| Minimum band width | 2.0mm | 2.5mm | 1.8mm |
| Typical failure | Beads wear at 4–8 o'clock, palm side | Stone loosens in the groove; lip lifts | Bead snaps off with a flake of metal |
| Sizing down | 2 sizes if cut at the base | Practically none | 1 size, then re-bead |
| Typical repair | Re-tip two or three beads | Re-cut the lip, weld a section | Re-bead under a microscope |
Minimum band widths
Pavé needs 2.0mm of width and 1.5mm of depth. Below that there is not enough metal between seats to raise two beads, and the beads you do get are too small to survive a year of wear.
Micro-pavé can be done on 1.8mm, though 2.0mm is the sensible floor. Channel needs 2.5mm for 1.5mm stones and 3.0mm for 2.0mm stones; a two-row channel starts at 4.5mm. Any vendor offering channel set stones in a 2mm band is either turning the stones or using a fake channel with beads hidden under the lip.
Resizing: what actually happens
Pavé can usually go down two sizes, but only if the stones sit on the top half of the band and the cut is made at the base. A full eternity band with pavé all the way round cannot be sized without removing stones and re-setting them, which costs more than the band.
Channel is close to un-resizable. Sizing down means cutting out a length of the groove and welding it closed, which leaves a joint running across a polished channel — visible, and the first place the lip will fail. Sizing up stretches the walls; the lip moves off the stone's crown edge and stops holding. Half a size, done by the original maker, is the honest limit.
Micro-pavé takes one size either way, then needs re-beading, because the beads that were pushed over the girdle are annealed by the soldering heat and lose their tension.
What to ask before you buy
Ask for the band width at its thinnest point, not at the top. Ask how many beads hold each stone and whether the seats are cut into the metal or the stones are sitting on top of a groove — cut seats last, surface-set stones do not. Ask whether the row runs all the way round or stops at the shoulders; a half-eternity is a different repair proposition from a full one. And ask what the resize range is in writing.
What we make
Our factory in Guangxi has been setting stones since 2008, in 925 sterling silver, 9K, 14K, 18K gold and PT950 platinum. Bands are cast to a minimum 2.0mm for pavé and 2.5mm for channel rather than thinned afterwards, using GRA D colour VVS1 moissanite at 9.25 hardness, IGI certified lab-grown diamonds, and lab-grown emerald, ruby and sapphire where a design calls for colour.
Prices run $17 to $2,020 with a median near $98; free shipping over $99, otherwise $5.99; 30-day returns on unworn pieces in original packaging, with custom and engraved work excluded because it cannot be resold.