Presentation watch A presentation watch is a watch offered by, or on its behalf, by a ruler / leader (Emperor, King, President, Prime Minister, Company Director, etc.) as an acknowledgment or thanks to a third person. Victor Emmanuel III (Vittorio Emanuele III; Naples, November 11, 1869 ?? Alexandria, Egypt, December 28, 1947), King of Italy (1900-1946), Emperor of Ethiopia (1936-1941) and King of the Albanians (1939-1943) After a mainly military education, he came suddenly to the throne in 1900 on the assassination of his father, King Umberto I (1844-1900). A tractable constitutional monarch, he accepted a Liberal cabinet and readily acquiesced in Italy’s war against Ottoman empire in 1911 and entrance into World War I in 1915. When the strains put on the parliamentary system by the war brought Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) to the fore, Victor Emmanuel failed to prevent the Fascist seizure of power, though it apparently lay in his hands to do so merely by signing the decree of martial law proposed by the cabinet. He was quickly reduced to a figurehead or less by Il Duce dictatorship, but in 1943, following disastrous Italian military reverses in World War II, capped by the Allied invasion of Sicily, Victor Emmanuel surprised the world by having Mussolini arrested and installing Marshal Pietro Badoglio (1871-1956) as premier. The move failed to extricate Italy from the war or the King from his difficult position, and finally, on June 5, 1944, the day after the Allied liberation of Rome, he named his son Crown Prince Umberto lieutenant general of the realm, relinquishing all power for himself but retaining his title of king. In 1946 public opinion forced a plebiscite to decide between the monarchy and a republican form of government. In an effort to influence the vote in favour of the dynasty, Victor Emmanuel abdicated in favour of Umberto (May 9, 1946), but the plebiscite resulted in a victory for the republic, and both Victor Emmanuel and Umberto went into exile. Presentation watch to the cypher of Victor Emmanuel III - Hausmann & Co., Rome, No. 1 010 857, circa 1915. Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, November 14, 2004, lot 299, sold for the amount of CHF 6 325.- (Estimation: CHF 6 000.- / 8 000.-). Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, April 02, 2006, lot 438, sold for the amount of CHF 5 664.- (Estimation: CHF 4 000.- / 6 000.-). Antiquorum, Hong Kong, auction, June 25, 2011, lot 313, sold for the amount of HK$ 50 000.- (Estimation: HK$ 40 000.- / 60 000.-). Presentation watch to the cypher of Victor Emmanuel, then Duke of Savoy - Patek Philippe & Co., Geneva, No. 97 623, delivered to Musy Padre e Filgli, Torino, on October 9, 1897, for the amount of 910 francs (with chronograph and 30-minute recorder at 12). Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, April 12, 1987, lot 111, sold for the amount of CHF 18 150.- Patek Philippe Museum, Geneva (Inv. P-625). Bibliography Tellier, Arnaud, & Didier-Chaponnière, Mélanie, Timepieces for Royalty, 1850-1910, by Patek Philippe, Geneva, Patek Philippe Museum Editions, 2005, pp. 130-135. Hausmann & Co., Rome Hausmann & Co. was initiated in 1794 out of the workshop which had been started by Giovanni Romano Ricci at Palazzo Piombino in Piazza Colonna. In 1870, Ernst Hausmann, a young German clockmaker joins the firm. In 1889, the headquarters of the shop were moved to a temporary office in via Bocca di Leone. A year later, in 1890, the store’s headquarters moved to definitively to the current address of via del Corso, 406. In 1895, Hermann Frielingsdorf, a German technician, joins the firm who become Hausmann & Co. In 1902, the company opens a store in Naples, via Santa Brigida, and in Genova, piazza de ‘Ferrari. In 1906, the firm participated in the International Exhibition of Milano (presenting a precision pendulum clock) and receives a Diploma of Honour. In 1978, a new shop opens in New York, at the corner of Madison Avenue and 59th Street. In 2001, inauguration of a shop in via dei Condotti in Rome, who will become in 2019 the Patek Philippe Boutique di Roma. In 2010, opening of a third store in Rome, via del Babuini. In 2018, the firm and Rolex open a new boutique, via dei Condotti. The year 2019 marks the Hausmann & Co. Jubilee with its 225 years anniversary (1794-2019). Today, the company represents around 20 Swiss watch brands, including Vacheron Constantin, Lange & Söhne, Patek Philippe, IWC, Jeager- LeCoultre, Cartier, Breguet, F.P. Journe, Panerai, etc.