SWISS [瑞士製] | A GOLD HALF-HUNTING CASED KEYLESS LEVER PRESENTATION WATCH WITH THE ARMS AND MONOGRAM OF MAXIMILIAN I OF MEXICO CIRCA 1865, NO. 61834 [黃金透視懷錶飾墨西哥馬西米連諾一世紋章及字母花紋，年份約1865，編號61834]

Antiquorum Geneva, 11 - 12 November 2006, lot 272

The case back of the present lot bears the cipher of Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico (1832-1867). Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph Maria was the younger brother of Franz Joseph I and had a distinguished military career as a commander in the Austrian Navy. Mexico had a short-lived monarchy from 1821-1824 (known as the First Empire), after which it returned to a republic. When Napoleon III came to power in France, he gained interest in re-instituting a monarchy in Mexico with a European leader as its head of state. After France invaded Mexico in 1861, Napoleon III offered Ferdinand Maximilan the position of Emperor of Mexico. He accepted in 1864 using the title Emperor Maximilian I, and subsequently became the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.

Though he faced resistance from Liberal forces in Mexico, he truly cared about the plight of the people in his new country. During his reign, he abolished child labor, canceled all debts over ten pesos for peasants, declared that day laborers could not be bought and sold for the price of their debt, and forbade all forms of corporal punishment. Though his only native allies were conservative, he upheld liberal policies from his predecessor, Benito Juárez, such as land reforms and religious freedom.  

Eventually, Napoleon III removed the French troops which were propping up the Empire, leading to the invasion by liberal Republicans. Benito Juárez regained power as President and captured Maximilian. Though Juárez liked him on a personal level, he had Maximilian executed in 1867 to both honor the Mexican lives lost who had fought against European influence, and remind foreign powers that Mexico would not tolerate their influence.