A mid-19th-century Swiss centre-seconds duplex watch made for the Chinese market, housed in a pearl-set silver-gilt and enamel open-face case. The key-wound gilt-bar movement features richly engraved bridges, a suspended going barrel with blued steel stopwork and screws, an engraved sector cock with garnet endstone, and a polished steel regulator. A five-arm polished steel balance is paired with a duplex escapement and brass escape wheel, with pivots set in endstones.

The white enamel dial displays centre seconds, slender Roman numerals, and gilt hands. The unusual silver-gilt open-face case has a front bezel, oval pendant, and bow set with split pearls, while the reverse features blue champlevé enamel. The back showcases a finely painted polychrome enamel portrait of a young lady against a blue ground. The watch is wound and set through a sprung gilt cuvette.