My First Pavé Circle at Gerardi Setting School
✨ A Beginner’s Plate, A Master’s Dream at Gerardi Setting School
There are moments in jewellery making that stay with you forever — the first time the graver cuts cleanly, the first time a bead rises exactly where you want it, the first time the stones lock into place like they were born there.
For me, that moment happened in Rome, inside the legendary Gerardi Setting School, where pavé is still taught the traditional way: discipline, geometry, patience… and pure hand skill.
And part of that hand skill is the reality no one glamorises... the graver slipping, stabbing into your finger, that sharp sting that makes you pause, breathe, sometimes even feel faint.
But that’s the art of it.
Finding the Center — In Metal and in Myself
Pavé starts with a single circle.
That circle determines the entire geometry, flow, and harmony of the finished piece.
It sounds simple until you try it under the microscope at Gerardi Setting School, where precision is not an option; it is a language.
I drew my guidelines, found the exact midpoint, and scribed the outer rim. The lines weren’t perfect. Neither was I. But that’s what this school teaches you: perfection isn’t born, it’s built.
Dot by Dot — Learning Pavé Rhythm
Once the circle was drawn, I marked the spots for each stone.
This is where pavé tests your discipline.
Dot.
Dot.
Dot.
Every dot perfectly spaced around the circle.
If one dot is off, even by a fraction, the entire circle looks wrong.
This stage alone teaches patience, focus, and more humility than anything else.
Beginning the Cuts With the Graver
The moment the metal starts to move under your hands.
Hand-Push Graver Work — Where Pavé Truly Begins
At Gerardi, I learnt the traditional hand-push method — no machines, no shortcuts.
You hold the graver in your palm, tuck it into your body, and push with controlled force.
This is also the part where you learn why setters always have bandaged fingers.
Sometimes the graver slips — and that stab feels like you might faint.
It’s a rite of passage.
But slowly, the cuts begin to form.
You’re not just drawing lines, you’re removing metal, carving channels, shaping where each bead will rise.
Cut by cut, the circle becomes alive.
Measuring the Beds and Marking with Burs
Building the Stone Beds — Microscopic Perfection
After engraving the guide cuts, it was time to create the stone seats:
1. Measuring the stones
Each stone gets measured down to fractions of a millimetre.
Even the tiniest miscalculation affects height and symmetry.
2. Marking the bed with a ball bur
Just a gentle touch — a guide for where the stone will eventually sit.
3. Opening the inner hole with a drill bur
This sets the depth so the stone can drop in securely.
4. Opening the bed to size with the correct ball bur
This part determines the final fit.
Too small? The stone sits high.
Too big? It falls through.
It’s like surgery... controlled, slow, and unforgiving.
My First Stone Test Placement