Diamond Hoop Earrings in 14K White Gold | Two Row Pave Set | 7.0 cttw

Pavé is French for paved, and the word names a result rather than a technique. Stones are placed so tightly, held in beads of metal raised from the surface itself, that the eye stops reading the piece as metal with diamonds in it and starts reading it as a diamond surface. Getting there takes many stones and very little visible gold.

These carry 460 round diamonds in two continuous rows, 7 carats in total, graded I-J in color and I1-I2 in clarity. The hoop beneath them weighs 8.61 grams, and that mass is structural rather than decorative. Set work needs enough metal under the seats to keep them from shifting, and a two-row hoop has to stay rigid across its width or the rows drift out of parallel every time it flexes. Running two rows instead of one also widens the face of the hoop, which is what allows seven carats to sit on an earring without any single stone having to be large.

A hinged snap-back closes the ring against itself, so the load rides on the whole hoop instead of on one post through the lobe.

This is not a first pair of diamond hoops. It is what gets bought when someone already knows how they intend to be seen. Solid 14K white gold, warranted for life.