Natural Diamond Expert Sally Morrison to Leave De Beers

By Karen Dybis | June 04, 2026

Sally Morrison (pictured), the De Beers Group natural diamonds market lead and director of PR for natural diamonds, is leaving the company later this summer, De Beers confirmed to JCK, though it did not issue a formal statement about her departure.

De Beers also told JCK that Shefali Murdia has joined the company as its U.S. general manager in natural diamonds. Murdia, previously Movado’s VP of global marketing, has more than two decades of experience with some of the world’s most recognizable consumer and luxury brands, De Beers said.

Morrison, who attended JCK Las Vegas last week and has been a respected De Beers spokesperson, has worked for the diamond giant since 2020. She was the lead on two of De Beers’ most important recent collaborations, with Signet Jewelers in the United States and Chow Tai Fook in China.

She also helped lead De Beers’ 2025 launch of Desert Diamonds, and at the JCK show was promoting Icons, an expansion of the Desert Diamonds beacon, following the addition of a bridal component.

“After a deeply rewarding time with De Beers, I have decided to pursue new projects,” Morrison said in a statement. In her six years with the company, Morrison played a significant role in De Beers’ return to category marketing, promoting natural diamonds to consumers in advertising and social media in a way that benefits the entire jewelry industry.

Desert diamonds bridal sand — *An image from De Beers’ Desert Diamonds campaign*

“I have greatly valued the opportunities I have had at De Beers and am very proud of what we have achieved together,” said Morrison. “From placing natural diamonds at important cultural moments, including the Super Bowl halftime show, to rolling out a resonant new advertising campaign, the work of the past year has shown the strength of De Beers’ category playbook. For me personally, seeing the Taffin Desert Diamonds piece worn by Rose Byrne on the Oscars red carpet was a career highlight.

“De Beers is a very special place to work because of the nature of the business and its close partnerships with the countries where it operates,” added Morrison. “It has been a privilege to be part of a team that brings the stories of Botswana, Canada, Namibia, and South Africa to consumers, and I certainly plan to remain in touch with these valued colleagues.”

Sandrine Conseiller, De Beers CEO of brands and diamond desirability, commended Morrison for her “outstanding contribution to De Beers.”

“Her leadership, category expertise, and deep commitment have helped shape De Beers’ success in the U.S. market and across some of our most important partnerships,” Conseiller said in a statement.

Conseiller noted that Murdia’s experience in the premium and luxury sectors, as well as her understanding of how to connect brands with modern consumers, “will be invaluable” to De Beers.

“We see outstanding opportunities to continue growing the diamond dream in the U.S.,” said Conseiller. “Our most recent research has shown how U.S. consumers are being reinspired by the wonder of natural diamonds, and we continue to sharpen our strategy to advance the desirability and interests of natural diamonds.

“With the success we are seeing with our marketing investments, we are excited to double down on the compelling campaigns we have launched in recent years.”

In Vegas last weekend, Morrison sat down with JCK to talk about Desert Diamonds Icons, which covers four classic diamond jewelry styles: stud earrings, eternity bands, tennis bracelets, and halo pendants.

“We got feedback from the trade that the [Desert Diamonds] product wasn’t focused enough in that first campaign, so we introduced what we’re calling Icons—the ultimate diamond jewelry box that every woman wants—and inserting into that the Desert Diamonds idea,” Morrison told JCK.

“We got back into the category space in a big way last year, and it was substantial and it was along the lines of the investment that we used to make in the old days with ‘A diamond is forever,’” she said.

“We got incredible traction. The feedback from the campaign was it worked well at independents but perhaps not so well at the larger chains,” Morrison shared with JCK. “It came down to a couple of things: With a new idea, you have to tell the consumer, tell the consumer, tell them again, tell them again.

“We needed merchandise assortments in the counter labeled Desert Diamonds in a very literal way and the sales associate trained to say, ‘This is part of the Desert Diamonds campaign.’… That’s difficult to do at scale,” she explained.

“We’re not asking retailers or manufacturers to design a new piece of jewelry. It’s a piece they’re already making or selling. They’ve already got those pieces—it’s inserting the ‘Desert’ thought into it,” said Morrison. “That’s hopefully going to supercharge what we did last year.”

(Photos courtesy of De Beers)