A brooch designed by Salvador Dali and known as the Eye of Time has sold with outstanding results as part of Dreweatts' July 17 auction in London.

The typically surrealist and striking brooch made an impressive 700% increase on its £12,000 high estimate to sell for £96,000 ($145,450).

Dali created the original brooch (which resides in the Dali museum, Figueres, Spain) for his wife, Gala, but several copies were made with the permission of the artist - including this one.

Originally produced by renowned jeweller Alemany & Ertman in 1949, the piece is crafted from diamonds and platinum, with a small gold and blue enamel watch at its centre. It measures just three inches across.

"The Dali brooch is a fantastic piece. He didn't design that many pieces of jewellery, probably about 20 in all, so whenever one comes on the market it is very rare," Dreweatts' head of jewellery, James Nicholson, told the Daily Mail newspaper.

"We don't know how many pieces like this were made, but this is the first time one of this large size has come up for auction."

The piece was bought by an Italian collector in the 1950s and it has descended through his family to the consignor. It was purchased by a private watch collector from the US.

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