Shape of diamond strangely alter­ed to save money, including copper (7-3)

'shape of diamond strangely' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether it can be defined by this definition.

'altered to save money including copper' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'money' could be 'm' (abbreviation in economics) and 'm' is found in the answer.
'copper' could be 'cu' (chemical symbol) and 'cu' is found within the answer.
an anagram of 'altered' is 'eeraldt' which is within the left over letters.
No letters remain.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?