“Mellon blue”, a bright blue diamond weighing 9.51 carats, sold for more than $25 million in Geneva

The stone belonged to Rachel Lambert Mellon for decades, who is best known for redesigning the White House Rose Garden in 1961 at the request of President John F. Kennedy.

This is a reasonable price for a stone “of extraordinary purity”. “Mellon blue,” a 9.51-carat bright blue diamond set in a ring, sold for more than $25 million in Geneva on Tuesday, November 11, Christie’s announced.

This bright blue diamond “is one of the most beautiful colored diamonds ever offered at auction”according to a manager at Christie’s. It sold for 17.4 million Swiss Francs, with a final price of $25,592,269 (including tax), according to the auction house. The same stone, which became known as the “Zoe Diamond”, sold for $32.6 million at Sotheby’s in New York in 2014, breaking world records at the time for a blue diamond and price per carat.

The stone belonged to Rachel Lambert Mellon for decades, better known as “Bunny” Lambert Mellon (1910-2014), best known for redesigning the White House Rose Garden in 1961 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. The highest price Christie’s has ever achieved for a bright blue diamond was set in Geneva in 2016, when the “Oppenheimer Blue” (14.62 carats) sold for US$57.5 million.