Unusual Swiss gold pearl and bloodstone pendant watch Circa 1890

Cylinder pendant watch with a gold monogram
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A very fine and unusual Swiss, 18 carat gold, pearl and bloodstone pendant watch, circa 1890. Retailed by Bassot, Paris. A solid, hinged case backset with bloodstone ornamented by gold initials, outer split pearls, pearl set bezel and bow. Gold cuvette. White enamel dial with radial Roman numerals, outer minutes and outermost red Arabic five minute numerals. Gold Louis XIV hands. A gilt movement, 15 jewels, cylinder escapement, plain three arm balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator.
Cuvette signed.
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Thickness: 10 mm
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Diameter: 31 mm
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Signed: No name
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The case has some alterations.
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Bloodstone is a beautiful, mostly, dark green stone that features red or brown spots that form as a result of impurities in the iron oxide. These spots look like blood splatters, giving the stone its English name. The stone is also referred to as a heliotrope, and gets this name from the Greek words helio, meaning ‘sun’, and tropos, meaning ‘toward the sun’. It’s said that the colour is also reminiscent of heliotrope plants that face towards the sun. The solid green colour that encompasses the rest of the stone is brought in as a result of the amphibole or Chlorite minerals found in the green Chalcedony. Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica that’s composed of fine intergrowths of moganite and quartz, the minerals that make up most agate stones too. Because of its varied composition, the green in bloodstone is not always evenly distributed and may have blue or yellow streaks in addition to green. It has been a popular gemstone for at least two thousand years.