Swiss 18 Carat gold pearl and diamond set pendant watch Circa 1900

Gold keyless wind cylinder pendant watch
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A fine and elegant Swiss 18 Carat gold, pearl and diamond set lady’s keyless cylinder pendant watch, circa 1900. Seed pearl set bezel, the case back entirely set with a pearl lattice highlighted with rose cut diamonds. Hinged gold cuvette. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals, outer gold minute dots and gilt Louis XV hands. Matte gilt movement, eight jewels, cylinder escapement, three arm balance, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator.
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Diameter: 24 mm
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Signed: No name
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The rose cut diamonds enhance the pearls, giving a particularly beautiful sparkling effect.
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A seed pearl is a small natural pearl. Usually less than a one quarter grain in weight and smaller than 2mm in diameter, off round in shape. They are formed in either a saltwater oyster or freshwater mussel. In the nineteenth century seed pearls were immensely popular. The pearls were imported from India and China.
Today the term ‘seed pearl’ is more widely used to describe a small pearl that has been created as a result of a pearl farmer trying to stimulate the formation of a cultured pearl in a mollusc.