Pave Set Diamonds; there are a number of methods used in the setting of gemstones into metal: claw settings; bezel settings where the gemstone is held in a continuous metal line around its edge; rub setting where setter gouges a hole deep enough, and properly formed, in the metal to allow the gemstone to sit, then pushes, forces and smoothes the metal around its edge, leaving only the top of the gemstone exposed; bead setting, where the setter gouges a hole for the gemstone and forces balls of the metal against the gemstone, three or four of them, the metal balls holding the gemstone in place; and pave setting.
Pave setting is basically bead setting, but a mass of gemstones set in this way, each contiguous with the other, to create a whole surface of gemstones, usually small, glittering together. Obviously, the brighter the gemstone, the more effective is the pave type of setting.