A BROOCH which was set to sell for around £10,000 has gone under the hammer at auction in Dorchester for more than triple that amount.

A Victorian Sri Lankan (formerly Ceylon) sapphire, diamond and pearl brooch has sold for £33,000 inclusion of fee at Duke's Auctioneers.

The brooch was initially valued to sell between £10,000 to £20,000 as part of the auctioneer's Jewellery and Watches auction, but went under the hammer for a whopping £33,000 in total.

The fine oval-cut sapphire weighs in at 17.41ct - and is encircled by surrounds of diamonds and pearls.

The first inner surround of diamonds is set with twenty-four old-cut diamonds with an approximate total weight of 0.48ct.

The second larger surround is set with fourteen cushion-cut diamonds weighing approximately 5.70ct in total.

The outer surround is set with twenty-one pearls measuring between four millimetres and five millimetres in diameter.