Jacques Etoile Klaus Jakob Uhren Alter rausfinden - Sammler-Uhren

Jacques Etoile Klaus Jakob Watches Find out age

Background on the Jacques Étoile brand

  • Founder: Klaus Jakob
  • Founded: around the 1990s in Lörrach (Germany)
  • Philosophy: classic hand-wound and automatic watches with refined Swiss movements (ETA, Unitas, Valjoux)
  • Production was small (manufactory in the literal sense – a few hundred pieces per year)
  • Focus on traditional watchmaking, dial art and movement embellishment

The brand is no longer active as a regular manufacturer (production discontinued around 2014–2015).

🔍 2. Works number vs. Serial number

With Jacques Étoile, it is important to distinguish:

Designation Description Meaningfulness
Serial number Engraving or stamp directly on the movement (ETA/Unitas) Part of the supplier's plant, not specifically for Jacques Étoile
Serial number (No. xx/yy) Engraved on the case back (e.g. "No. 045") Indicates the serial number, often limited edition.
Caliber designation e.g. E.g. Unitas 6498 , ETA 2824 , VALJOUX 7751 Specific era or series

 

Chronological classification according to work and design

Time period Features Typical works
Early 1990s–late 1990s Classic hand-wound models, often with silver guilloché dials and a small seconds hand at 6 o'clock. Unitas 6497 / 6498
2000–2007 Beginning of the Elaboré/Chronograph series, some with glass backs featuring engravings Valjoux 7750 / 7751 , ETA 2824-2 , Unitas Unitas 6498-1 Elaboré
2008–2013 Limited series, often "repetition" designs, "Jacques Étoile Lörrach" engraving on the rotor ETA 2892A2 , Unitas 6498-2 , Valjoux 7750 Top Grade
After 2014 Brand almost inactive, remaining stock or special models, sometimes sold through dealers same caliber, but small production runs

 

Other calibers:

Factory ETA manufacturing period Jacques Étoile production
Unitas 6497/6498-1 ca. 1985–2007 all hand-wound models
ETA 2824-2 ongoing since 1982 Automatic models from around 2000 onwards
Valjoux 7750/51 1974–present Chronograph models from around 2005
ETA 2892A2 from about 1998 Few luxury series after 2008

 

German watch manufacturer

The watch company Jacques Etoile was founded on October 1 , 1996 , in Lörrach, Baden. While the father, Horst Jakob, an experienced watchmaker who celebrated his 50th anniversary as a master craftsman in 2001 , works quietly behind the scenes on the technology and the models, his son Klaus cultivates external relationships, including business and customer contacts as well as trade fair appearances. Not to be forgotten is Klaus Jakob's Turkish wife, whose name, Yildiz (meaning star in German, Étoile in French), contributed to the brand's name.

The launch of a young watch company

After launching the two product lines Imperial and Racing — chronographs powered by the ETA Valjoux 7750 standard movement—Klaus Jakob managed to secure a handful of beautiful, vintage Valjoux column-wheel chronograph movements, which were then incorporated into the Silverstone series. Sales increased with the introduction of the Plongeur model, an affordable diver's watch with a solid bracelet priced at just under 700 DM. In 1997 , Japanese journalists at the Baselworld watch and jewelry fair expressed interest in the watches, leading to an invitation to Japan in early 1999. Although Klaus Jakob had anticipated only preliminary discussions, substantial orders were placed immediately.

Jacques Etoile Tricompax (zum Vergrößern anklicken!)
Jacques Etoile Tricompax

This success enabled the company to significantly expand and enhance its watch range. Since then, a key component of the company philosophy has been to offer mechanical specialties that go beyond the usual mass-market standards. These include rare or unusual movements such as the historic column-wheel caliber Venus 175 , the Jaquet Baume movement used in the rectangular Estes Parc, the proven Unitas pocket watch caliber 6498, the unusual Unitas movement 6300 with a true central seconds hand , and the tourbillon movement sourced from Progress .

 

Even when using a widely used and well-known movement like the ETA-Valjoux caliber 7750 , there is additional modification required to offer the more harmonious tricompax arrangement of the totalizers or, as with the Grand Guichet model, to achieve an instantaneously changing large date display.

Jacques Etoile Gehäuse, von der [[SUG]] gefertigt (zum Vergrößern anklicken!)
Jacques Etoile case, manufactured by SUG

The constant pursuit of above-average manufacturing quality led to the collaboration with the Glashütte-based case manufacturer Sächsische Uhrentechnologie GmbH Glashütte (SUG) , which is able to supply watch cases milled cleanly from a solid block of steel.

To mark the company's tenth anniversary, the limited edition Bidynator 42 model will be released on October 2 , 2006. This watch, a tribute to Felsa 's legendary, bidirectional Bidynator automatic movement, incorporates remaining parts of this historic caliber. (The limited edition comprises numbers 1 to 50 with a white dial and numbers 51 to 100 with a black dial.)

The secondary brand Mercure

Alongside Jacques Etoile, there is now a second brand, Mercure . This covers the price segment under approximately €1000. Klaus Jakob's motto is: Classic mechanics with proven Swiss movements and a German finish, at prices like 25 years ago .

Models

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