Copper Micro-paved Zircon Square Spacer

Square spacers are uncommon; most are round, and round is easier for the cord. This one insists on being square, four equal sides, the face pavé-set with zircon, stone against stone, packed so densely that the ground disappears. The four corners are cut back a little rather than left at right angles, so nothing pricks the finger. The sides are plain apart from one fine border, and only when you turn it over do you see how thin it is. All four sides are the same width, and from the side it reads as a band of even breadth.

Pavé setting beds very small stones into tightly packed seats with no copper left between them, pushed in one at a time under a loupe. What you judge is regularity: even rows, even depth, not one stone askew. Let one sit crooked and the light breaks at that point. On a small piece, pavé costs more in hours than the stones themselves, which is what separates it from ordinary stone setting. The stones are grain-set, the beads pressed very low and burnished down, so a finger passes over the face almost flat.

Square is more trouble for the cord than round. The hole is straight, and at each corner the cord has to make a sharp turn, so the mouth must be chamfered or it will cut the thread. On this piece the transition at the mouth is noticeably smooth, and even a thick cord runs through without catching. The block is made thin, because a thick one would force the neighbouring beads apart.

String it between square or barrel-shaped main beads, where the shapes meet. Between round beads it looks abrupt: square is square and round is round, each making its own point. People who collect old Tibetan strings keep a few square beads to hand for breaking up a long run of round ones. At the back-ornament position it works as well, since a flat block lies closer to the body than a round bead. The cut corners do not bite the cord either, so thick and fine threads both pass through without complaint. Being thin, it does not bulge even on doubled cord.

The weakness of pavé is that it snags. Keep knitted fabric, lace and fuzzy scarves away from it: fibres work into the seams between stones and cannot be picked out, and picking at them hard will lever a stone loose. Clean only with a dry soft brush, never with water. A knock on a corner leaves a very obvious chip, harder to disguise than on a round piece. If fingerprints land on the face, press them off with a chamois cloth rather than rubbing back and forth, which only spreads them.