May 11 would have marked 118 years since the birth of Salvador Dali. In this regard, we decided to recall one very interesting watch created by the artist's design. We are talking about The Eye of Time model, which was included in a series of jewelry designed by Dali between 1941 and 1970.
Unusual watch brooch has the shape of an eyeball, for which they got their name. Only 4 examples of this work are known, and 2 of them surfaced at auctions quite recently. The first appeared at Sotheby's in 2014 and at a presale estimate of $250,000 - 300,000, it eventually went under the hammer for a whopping $1,055,000. The second copy was in worse condition and was initially estimated at times more modest - $ 20 - 000. The total cost of the watch was $ 30.
Another version of The Eye Of Time surfaced at Sotheby's New York auction on May 17, 2017. The Movado movement is housed inside a platinum case 7 cm across. The enamel coating acts as a background for miniature hands. On the iris of the "Eye" is the autograph of Salvador Dali. Initially, the artist created The Eye Of Time for his wife Gala. The Argentine jeweler Carlos Alemany helped bring the crazy surrealist's idea to life.
From the history of this model, it is known that it was part of a collection of 22 jewelry, which in 1949 was ordered by Dali from Philadelphia banker Cummis Catherwood. When in 1958 the entire collection was bought by the Owen Chatham Foundation, Mrs. Catherwood could not part with her precious piece of jewelry and ordered another one of the same watch from Dali. Unfortunately, the 2014 record of this model could not be beaten. With a promising starting price of $300 – 400 watches went under the hammer for $000.
