Why De Beers Is Promoting “Desert Diamonds”

By Rob Bates | October 06, 2025

At an event Friday night in New York City, De Beers introduced Desert Diamonds—which it calls its first new “beacon” in years—to a group of influencers, celebrities, trade people, and journalists.

Sandrine Conseiller, CEO of De Beers Brands, and Sally Morrison, De Beers’ natural diamonds lead, spoke with JCK about the new campaign, how it was dreamed up, and just what the name is supposed to evoke.

What’s the quick pitch on Desert Diamonds?

Conseiller: It started by talking to the consumer first, and talking to them about their emotions with diamonds and jewelry. We found out that what they want is a piece, a gemstone, that is as unique as they are. Starting from this insight, then we built a program about Desert Diamonds. We didn’t start with the industry in mind; we started with the consumer in mind.

Is the idea that these are imperfect stones?

It is not about the imperfection. It is about the uniqueness. When you look at the range of colors—going from ochres to semi-nudes, yellows, and browns—it is an easy way to tell the story.

Does Desert Diamonds include any standard white stones?

Yes, there are standard whites, because there are standard whites in the range of diamonds. But the way we tell the story of the uniqueness is through the rainbow of color. So you present the rainbow of color to tell the story.

It’s a range. Tonight we have some Ombré Desert Diamonds, which is a range of colors that showcases the range of Desert Diamonds. That best embodies what the Desert Diamonds archetype is.

Are these pieces meant for bridal?

Again, I go back to the consumer. It started with the insight that they want something unique. You can look for something unique if you buy for yourself, or if you look to buy a gift for someone, or when you want to get married. So the nice part of the project is that you can apply it to the three parts of our industry.

And why did you choose the name “Desert Diamonds”?

In every continent, the idea of the desert is very strong. It is a way to retell the story of where diamonds come from. So, thanks to the desert, we tell the story of color but also origin and the story of sustainability that is linked to the people who are living in those countries and benefit from diamonds.

Do you think consumers understand that some diamonds come from the desert?

People have forgotten where diamonds come from because we didn’t tell that story enough, and that’s why we’re doing this program. For us, it’s a way to tell the story that when you carry a natural diamond, you are carrying a piece of the earth.

Past beacons had taglines: Journey had “With every step, your love grows.” The three-stone ring had “For your past, present, and future.” Does this one have a tagline?

No, there is no tagline. The recipe of the beacon is it’s an archetype that resonates with people and the entire industry can get behind. To resonate with consumers today, you need personalization. So the story of Desert Diamonds needed to be personalized to work. That’s why we tell a story that can be interpreted in different ways.

How will this be marketed?

Morrison: The marketing kicked off today [Friday]. We’ll market it through television, out-of-home, a full 360 campaign, like the campaigns of old for the big beacons. It will roll out through the end of the year and hopefully beyond. It’s very heavy on television, and very heavy on sports television.

We have something that we’re quite excited about, there’s a sports equinox at the end of October, where the four major leagues have games in 24 hours. We’re calling that Diamond Day, because we have a roadblock against all the channels showing those games. We know that’s a time that families are together at home for the weekend. Interestingly, nearly as many women are watching those games as the men, which shocked me.

How can retailers promote Desert Diamonds?

Promobox is open as of this morning. It’s a digital platform where you can register, and then you can download the assets and you can personalize them to your store. So it will be like what the Diamond Promotion Service used to offer in the old days, but digital rather than physical. Those assets are going to continue to drop every time we have new materials. Social material, digital ads, they can use them all. It’s open to everybody.

I saw that Kay has a version of Desert Diamonds.

We have a very big partnership with Signet. Kay is using Desert Diamonds in a variety of brands. Neil Lane has created a Desert Diamonds collection. Le Vian has created a Desert Diamonds collection. So that’s going to be very major. Jared is building Desert Diamonds into the Storied collection they’re launching.

One of the things I’ve heard is that manufacturers are worried they will buy a bunch of browns and then De Beers won’t continue the campaign.

I think that’s a misconception. We’re not asking them to buy a bunch of browns. It’s not a brown program. We’re using the color palette as a metaphor to tell the story of naturals, and we hope this will help sell more white diamonds as well. That’s the point. It’s a way of giving new news to the consumer to drive them into store and demand a natural diamond.

But aren’t the off-whites basically browns?

We don’t call them “off-white.” That’s not very appealing. We call them “soft whites.” If you look at something like the Taylor Swift engagement ring, that’s an old mine cut. It’s a vintage stone. It’s a very soft color. It’s not commoditized like a D. So there is interest in things that have their own personality. That’s why we’re using color to talk about personality, including in whites.

Any other insights you received from your consumer research?

In the focus groups, the idea was equally resonant across all age groups and among men and women, which is unusual. Most of them were surprised that colored diamonds existed. Only the oldest age group were not surprised. They sort of dimly remembered there might be Argyle or champagnes and things like that.

There was an interesting conversation we had with Doja Cat’s stylist, when we were talking to him about these stones and jewelry in this palette. He said it was so new, and it was like the Fenty Beauty palette of diamonds. And he thought it was very modern, very fresh. This is exciting because it’s new news for the category, and there hasn’t been new news in a long time. In fact, arguably the most recent new news was LGDs. So we’re back. We have a new story.

Top: At De Beers’ “Desert Diamonds” unveiling in New York City last weekend (photos courtesy of De Beers)