Emil Politzer was a jeweler and antique dealer at Augustiner Strasse 12 in Vienna’s 1st district since 1919. His three brothers Isidor, Siegfried and Karl Politzer were also active in the same trade in Vienna's city centre. In the summer of 1937, Emil Politzer registered the trade in "gold, silver, platinum, Chinese silver and alpaccaware, watches, pearls, jewels, precious stones, lighters, costume jewelry and gallantry goods with genuine and imitation jewelry" in addition to his previous business. After the annexation of Austria to the National Socialist German Reich, he was subjected to Nazi persecution due to his Jewish origins. As early as 14 April 1938, he lost the power of disposition over his business, which was placed under kommissarische Verwaltung (temporary administration). In his declaration of assets dated 30 June 1938, Emil Politzer valued his company at RM 30,000 and also listed private art and jewelry worth RM 2,460 and his already confiscated “Wanderer” car. On 26 August 1938, the childless and unmarried businessman took his own life.

Politzer's business, which was under temporary administration, was subsequently to be liquidated. To this end, the art dealer and court-appointed expert Amatus Caurairy was commissioned by the Property Transaction Office in January 1939 to draw up a valuation report comprising several hundred items of furniture and art objects from Politzer's business assets, including antique boxes, oil paintings and lithographs of low value as well as bronzes, ivory miniatures, porcelain paintings and coffee and tea services. The listed objects were intended for further "utilization" by the furniture and old goods campaign of the Property Transaction Office, headed by Robert Möder and Franz Horejsi. The precious metal, gemstone and jewelry stocks, on the other hand, went to the Einkaufs- und Treuhandgenossenschaft für die Uhren- und Juwelenbranche (ETG) (Purchasing and Trustee Cooperative for the watch and jewellery business) for resale. The master watchmaker Rudolf Hübner, who had "aryanized" the business of Emil Politzer's brother Isidor only a month earlier, valued the 179 watches among them. When the watches went up for sale at the ETG in June 1940, the director of the Vienna Clock Museum, Rudolf Kaftan, took the favourable opportunity to acquire 25 of them. By the summer of 1941, Emil Politzer's estate was considered to be completely liquidated and his brother Siegfried Politzer's business was also to be completely liquidated by the summer of 1942. Only the company in which Karl Politzer worked as managing director survived the Nazi era, as it was owned by his wife Barbara Politzer, who was considered "Aryan" by the Nazis.

20 of the 25 watches acquired by Kaftan from the property of Emil Politzer could no longer be found after they were recovered at the end of the Second World War. The remaining five watches were designated for restitution to the legal successors of Emil Politzer by the Vienna Restitution Commission at its meeting on 11 May 2004 and were handed over in November 2007.