Before a diamond can be cut and polished, its final configuration must be planned. Many rough diamonds are first sawn into two parts. A diamond can only be sawn along its crystal grain structure.

A Marker is an artisan who decides which diamonds need to be sawn, where they will be sawn and what the final configuration, or shape, will be. The Marker can be compared to an architect who designs buildings.

At RAND each Marker is equipped with a sophisticated 3-D CAD/CAM type machine that creates a three-dimensional image of the rough diamond. Utilizing his or her trained eye and this sophisticated computer equipment, the Marker determines where a diamond must be sawn in order to achieve the perfect RAND Diamond.

The final phase of marking is drawing a perfect line around the diamond in the exact place it is to be sawn. This can only be done by hand using traditional pen and ink.