A sawn diamond refers to a rough diamond that has undergone sawing, or to a rough diamond after it has been sawn but before it has been polished.
Rough diamond that has undergone sawing
The diamonds that are fit to saw are octahedronal in shape – a double pyramid. Sawing the diamond in half, with each pyramid becoming its own diamond, allows for making the most out of the processed diamond. The same is true even for stones that are not crystalline in shape, though they have an orderly structure which allows for sawing – sawables. Gems with distorted structures – caps – or gems with damaged structures cannot be sawn and must be cleaved.
Rough diamond assortments after being sawn
Assortments of sawn diamonds are called ‘Sawn Goods’. Diamonds of half a carat or less are generally offered for sale in an assortment, having been sawn. Sawn rough stones are easier for small businesses and groups to purchase, since they cannot afford a saw of their own. In diamond trader lingo, one can use a word been that has “cut” from Yiddish: Zaegers, as in “I’ve got an assortment of zaegers” – I’ve got an assortment of sawn diamonds.
