Jadau setting is the prongless setting technique that is the structural basis of Mughal-period Indian high jewellery and of its descendant Polki, kundan and meenakari traditions. The stone is held by a strip of pure 24-carat gold foil that is worked at room temperature with steel tools so that the soft gold flows around the stone and locks it into a pre-prepared seat. The body of the jewel is alloy gold (typically 18 to 22 carat), shaped and decorated in advance; the kundan-foil setting is performed only at the final stage.

Because the technique requires no prongs or claws, it permits extremely close-set, flush jewels in which the stone appears to float on a smooth gold ground. It accommodates flat-backed, irregular and uncut stones (which prong setting cannot grip) and supports the foil-backed compositions characteristic of Mughal-period work. The reverse of a jadau jewel is conventionally enamelled (meenakari), so the piece is reversible.

The technique remains in active practice, with Jaipur as the principal centre, and is the structural foundation of contemporary Polki bridal work. See the separate entries for jadau, polki and kundan setting for the wider context. Compare with the European pavé, bézel and prong-setting traditions, which use mechanical retention rather than foil flow and are not interchangeable with jadau in either appearance or technique.