Brands
A Diamond is Forever dazzles with Desert diamonds
MUMBAI: Talk about sparkling under the spotlight! A Diamond is Forever unveiled its latest campaign, Desert diamonds, with a glittering evening at Artechouse in New York City on October 3, celebrating the individuality and timeless beauty of natural diamonds.
The event drew an A-list of celebrities including Ciara, Julia Fox, Lucien Laviscount, Lucky Blue Smith, and Teyana Taylor, alongside leading editors, visionary designers, and ambassadors from across the globe. Guests were treated to a multi-sensory experience featuring a curated exhibition of diamonds in warm whites, champagne, amber, and whiskey shades from over 30 renowned designers and brands.
The Desert diamonds collection pays tribute to the earth from which these treasures originate, capturing rarity, elegance, and emotional resonance. From red carpet moments to engagement rings, the campaign’s distinctive colour palette is already inspiring jewellery lovers worldwide.
Ciara wore a Premier Gem ring sourced from Botswana, paired with Vice Versa studs and a De Beers London necklace, while Teyana Taylor adorned Desert diamonds from Namibia with a Grandview Klein necklace and bracelet. Julia Fox, Lucien Laviscount, and Lucky Blue Smith also showcased statement pieces, adding glamour and star power to the evening.
The celebration included wine from Ibest Wine and a curated culinary journey by chef Lorna Maseko of Ekhaya, complemented by a unique soundtrack blending afrobeats and amapiano rhythms, reflecting the global spirit of the campaign.
De Beers Brands & Diamond Desirability CEO Sandrine Conseiller said, “Desert Diamonds celebrate individuality and self-expression. Whether as a style statement or everyday wear, these diamonds offer a modern take on love, connection, and heritage.”
With its combination of artistry, culture, and natural beauty, Desert diamonds highlight the ever-evolving allure of coloured diamonds while reinforcing A Diamond is Forever as a symbol of timeless elegance.
Brands
Samsung certifies 1,000 Maharashtra students in AI and coding
The South Korean electronics giant marks its first large-scale skilling push in the state, with women making up nearly half the national programme’s enrolment
PUNE: Samsung has put 1,000 students in Maharashtra through a certified training programme in artificial intelligence and coding, the largest such drive the South Korean electronics company has run in the state and a signal that corporate India’s skilling ambitions are moving well beyond the boardroom brochure.
The certifications were awarded under Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC), the company’s flagship corporate social responsibility programme, which launched in India in 2022 with the stated aim of democratising access to future-technology education. The 1,000 graduates were drawn from four institutions: 127 from Savitribai Phule Pune University, 373 from Pimpri Chinchwad University, 250 from D.Y. Patil University’s Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology and 250 from Anjuman-I-Islam’s Kalsekar Technical Campus. All completed training in either AI or coding and programming, the two disciplines Samsung has identified as the critical pillars of the digital economy.
The programme does not stop at technical training. Soft-skills development and career-readiness modules are baked into the curriculum, a deliberate attempt to close the gap between what universities teach and what employers actually want.
“India’s digital growth story will ultimately be shaped by the quality of its talent pipeline,” said Shubham Mukherjee, head of CSR and corporate communications at Samsung Southwest Asia. “As technologies like AI move from the periphery to the core of industries, skilling must evolve from basic training to building real-world capability. This milestone in Maharashtra reflects how industry and academia can come together to create a future-ready workforce that is both globally competitive and locally relevant.”
The Maharashtra drive sits within a rapidly scaling national effort. Samsung Innovation Campus trained 20,000 young people across India in 2025, hitting its stated target for the year. Women account for 48 per cent of national enrolments, a figure the company cites as evidence of its push for an inclusive technology ecosystem. The programme is implemented in partnership with the Electronics Sector Skills Council of India and the Telecom Sector Skill Council.
Samsung, which is marking 30 years in India this year, runs SIC alongside two other initiatives, Samsung Solve for Tomorrow and Samsung DOST, as part of a broader effort to build what it calls a generation of innovators with both the technical depth and the problem-solving mindset to thrive in a fast-moving digital world.
A thousand certified students is a tidy headline. Whether they find jobs that match their new skills is the harder question, and the one that will ultimately determine whether corporate skilling programmes like this one are genuine pipelines or well-photographed gestures.
