Editor’s Note
This article explores how high-profile fashion choices, like Kim Kardashian’s recent jewelry selection, reflect a broader trend toward warmer, more colorful gemstones in luxury markets.
At the Bezos-Sánchez nuptials, Kim Kardashian — poured into a body-skimming, sparkling brown négligée-style gown — dazzled under the Venetian sun in more than 340 carats of diamonds from London-based jeweler Moussaieff. The pieces commanded attention not only for their size, but also for their color, ranging from icy white stones to the warmer shades of champagne, cognac and chocolate.
Kardashian’s choice captures a shift that has been building over the past five years, as both designers and consumers embrace diamond colors that were once rarely set. Perhaps, unwittingly, Kardashian also provided the perfect prelude to De Beers’s new Desert Diamonds campaign, first announced by CEO Al Cook in June in Las Vegas and launched publicly at Frieze in London in October.
This campaign matters, not only for De Beers Group, which controls a third of the global diamond output, but for the industry as a whole. It is De Beers’s largest global activation since A Diamond Is Forever in 1947, and marks a striking departure from previous messages. After decades spent educating consumers on the four Cs — carat, clarity, color and cut — the company is now inviting them to look beyond perfection and appreciate nature’s variations.
The campaign arrives at a critical moment, as the industry faces both a decline in output — diamonds are a finite resource after all, and mines are depleting — as well as mounting pressure from laboratory-grown diamonds, whose proliferation threatens not only pricing but the desirability of natural stones.
Interest in unusual diamond hues is not limited to A-list stars. London-based Brazilian jeweler Fernando Jorge notes that experiments with wood and textured metals, which pair naturally with warm-toned diamonds, have helped consumers embrace them.
According to the NDC’s latest trend report, the appetite for a more varied color spectrum often reflects “a desire for larger stones”, with consumers increasingly willing to compromise slightly on clarity.
Desert-hued diamonds are also more affordable than white diamonds in colour D, the purest grade.
London-based jeweler Cora Sheibani attributes shifting consumer sentiment to the fact that pure stones, “besides being extremely rare, can sometimes lack personality”. The growing acceptance of varied colors is also linked to rising interest in vintage stones from the secondary market.
Beyond design experimentation and shifting consumer tastes, there are strategic considerations at play. Natural diamonds are a finite resource, and global production is declining. According to a 2024 joint report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and De Beers Group, the primary natural diamond supply is projected to shrink by “approximately 1% over the next 10 years”, while demand is expected to grow only “in the range of 2% to 4%” in wholesale value for cut and polished stones between 2023 and 2033.
This tightening supply colliding with rising demand suggests the Desert Diamonds campaign aims at satisfying customers by offering a wider aesthetic palette. Brazilian jeweler Ara Vartanian, an early champion of black, grey and brown diamonds, also sees an opportunity to unlock value and move existing stock.
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Many industry insiders see the campaign as a timely and necessary response to the proliferation of perfectly flawless lab-grown diamonds. According to a study by Tenoris, Madestones and Bernstein, sales of loose lab-grown diamonds in the US rose from 20% to more than 50% between January 2021 and September 2023, overtaking natural diamonds, whose share fell from 80% to below 50%.