Blue diamond sells for over $25M at Geneva auction

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - A vivid blue diamond known as the Mellon Blue has sold for more than $25 million at an auction in Geneva, according to Christie's auction house.

Christie's, founded in 1766, described the 9.51-carat stone as remarkable for its "superb colour and extraordinary purity" in a Tuesday press release. It noted that its sale set the auction house's third-highest price for a vivid blue diamond and achieved a price in line with its pre-sale estimate of $20–30 million.

It was previously owned by Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon (1910–2014), the American horticulturalist, philanthropist, and art collector best known for redesigning the White House Rose Garden at the request of President John F. Kennedy.

"It was a true honour to offer for sale the exquisite Mellon Blue Diamond here at Christie's Geneva," Rahul Kadakia, the head of Christie's Asia Pacific and chairman of the Global Luxury Group, said in the release.

The record for the highest price ever achieved for a vivid blue diamond at Christie’s remains the Oppenheimer Blue, a 14.62-carat stone that fetched $57.5 million in Geneva in 2016, followed by The Bleu Royal, at 17.61 carats, which sold for $39.5 million.