Culture & Style
Inside De Beers’ Star-Studded Desert Diamonds Launch in New York
By Grant Mobley, Published: October 6, 2025
De Beers’ Desert Diamonds campaign lit up New York’s ARTECHOUSE, where Ciara, Julia Fox, Chanel Iman, and more celebrated the timeless beauty and individuality of natural color diamonds.
Lynn Serfaty, Sally Morrison, Teyana Taylor, Ciara, Sandrine Conseiller at the De Beers Group Desert Diamond Launch on October 3, 2025. (Courtesy of De Beers)
On Friday night, New York City glittered a little brighter. Inside the futuristic walls of ARTECHOUSE, De Beers unveiled its newest natural diamond campaign, Desert Diamonds, with an immersive celebration that merged technology, art, and nature’s rarest treasures.
The scene felt like stepping inside a living jewelry box, where light and sound pulsed in rhythm with diamonds. Singer Ciara, actors Teyana Taylor and Julia Fox, and ballet stars Tiler Peck and Roman Mejia mingled alongside the city’s leading designers, editors, and tastemakers, all bathed in the golden glow of ARTECHOUSE’s digital desert.
Meet the Expert
- Grant Mobley is the Jewelry & Watch Editor of Only Natural Diamonds.
- He is a GIA Diamonds Graduate.
- He has over 17 years of jewelry industry experience, starting with growing up in his family’s retail jewelry stores.
What Is a Desert Diamond?
Among the glittering crowd and champagne toasts, the diamonds themselves told the real story. Unlike the traditional icy white stones that most think of, Desert Diamonds celebrate the natural color palette that emerges from the earth’s depths: off-whites, champagne, amber, whiskey tones, and everything in between.
These hues aren’t the result of treatment or tinting; they are entirely natural, shaped by the earth’s pressure and heat over billions of years. While some may prize uniform perfection, De Beers’ campaign champions individuality. Each stone embodies the complexity of its journey and the personality of its wearer.
From a craftsman’s perspective, these stones challenge the cutter’s precision. Maintaining brilliance, clarity, and color simultaneously requires extraordinary skill. The result? Diamonds that radiate with understated warmth, offering a new dimension of beauty that feels as timeless as it is contemporary.
A Futuristic Desert Blooms in the Heart of Manhattan
ARTECHOUSE, known for its cutting-edge digital exhibitions, became an expanse of moving light. Massive projections of the Desert Diamonds campaign covered every wall, floor, and ceiling. The sun-drenched dunes, glowing embers, and close-up imagery of champagne and amber-hued diamonds swirled in hypnotic motion. The entire venue shimmered in tones of gold and sand, creating a dreamscape where guests could quite literally walk through light.
Guests entered the space to a soft wash of golden light, greeted with wine and cocktails before diving into the epicurean journey crafted by South African chef Lorna Maseko of eKhaya. Her menu, infused with spices and stories of home, mirrored the evening’s theme of earthborn beauty refined by human artistry. Throughout the night, an original soundtrack blending Afrobeats and Amapiano rhythms filled the room, its global pulse perfectly matching the campaign’s cross-cultural energy and the millions around the world who bring natural diamonds to light.
Desert Diamonds Convey the “Magic, Myth, and Wonder of Natural Diamonds”
As the music softened and the projections danced around her, Sandrine Conseiller, CEO of De Beers Brands and Diamond Desirability, took the stage to toast the occasion.
“Tonight reminds us of the magic, myth, and wonder inherent in the DNA of natural diamonds,” she said. “Today’s consumers have a need to convey their individuality while continuing to honor their deepest bonds and connections with the ultimate symbol of love and self-expression—natural diamonds. Desert Diamonds—whether a style statement or worn every day—offer a modern take on these enduring gifts of nature.”
Teyana Taylor, Ciara, and Julia Fox Glitter in Desert Diamonds
Everywhere you turned, stars shimmered in diamonds that caught the light from every angle. Ciara, known for her chart-topping music career and magnetic stage presence, wore a Premier Gem ring set with Desert Diamonds sourced from Botswana, paired with Vice Versa studs and a De Beers London necklace.
Supermodel Chanel Iman shone in a Le Vian necklace featuring soft champagne tones, while fashion provocateur Julia Fox made a bold statement with a sculptural MUNNU The Gem Palace ring that drew as much attention as her signature eyeliner.
Model Hilary Rhoda paired Khepri earrings and a matching necklace with grace, while Tiler Peck, principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, added fluid movement to her Khepri jewels with every turn. Actor Lucien Laviscount, known for his role in Emily in Paris, brought a dash of European sophistication with a Le Vian pendant and a Kay Jewelers ring, while model-musician Lucky Blue Smith layered his Le Vian and Kay pieces for a modern, masculine spin.
Singer and actress Teyana Taylor, star of the new hit film One Battle After Another, stunned in a Grandview Klein necklace and bracelet featuring Desert Diamonds from Namibia—their golden undertones reflecting the digital dunes around her.
The Desert Diamond Palette Stole the Show
Even the crowd, a mix of editors, stylists, and designers, seemed to dress to match the theme. Their metallics, creams, and golds echoed the diamonds glowing from within the display cases and anchoring their outfits. More than thirty leading designers presented over 100 pieces of jewelry inspired by the warmth of nature. From Lorraine West and Stephanie Gottlieb to Neil Lane, Fred Leighton, and Martin Katz, each showcased their interpretation of the “desert” palette. The yellows, champagnes, ambers, and whiskey tones illustrate how natural diamonds, in all their hues, can be just as expressive as the people who wear them.
A Night That Redefined Sparkle
As the evening drew to a close, guests lingered beneath the golden projections, watching the Desert Diamonds imagery flicker like a mirage across the walls. For an evening, De Beers reminded everyone why A Diamond Is Forever—and why, under the desert sun or New York City lights, the diamonds’ billion-year-old story shines brighter than ever.
