Nickel-diamond-coated saw wire with improved anchoring of the diamond particles

A saw wire with a high resistance to wear when sawing hard materials, comprising a steel wire, an intermediate layer and a metallic binder phase in which diamond grains, with a mean diameter of 10 to 50 μm are embedded, the intermediate layer being undamaged and free of diamond grains and serving both to prevent hydrogen embrittlement of the wire and to ensure sufficient adhesive strength of the metallic binder phase, characterized in that the metallic binder phase has a hardness of between 600 and 1100 HV 0.1 and comprises an inner layer and an outer layer, which are arranged concentrically around the steel wire which has been provided with the intermediate layer, the inner layer having a thickness of approximately 10 to 25% of the mean diamond grain diameter and the outer layer having a thickness which is such that the total thickness of the metallic binder phase is 45-55% of the mean diamond grain diameter, and the diamond grains having a mean spacing between them of no more than five times their mean diameter and further fine particles with a mean diameter of from 1 to 6 μm being situated between the diamond grains with a mean diameter of from 10 to 50 μm.