For the information of people with this same Pixel phone problem, I have finally succeeded in pairing my watch and phone by rebooting my phone into “Safe Mode” thereby preventing all third party Apps that may be interfering from starting, then pairing the Bluetooth by traditional means (select watch from available list and entering provided PIN code). Then restarting the phone (so as to allow all apps to start correctly) and logging into the Suunto App as usual and pairing again (using the watch symbol in top left), this time the watch paired correctly and synched as designed.
Thanks for listening.