Jacques Etoile Horst Jakob

Even watch enthusiasts might not have heard of the Jacques Etoile, let alone master watchmakers Horst and Klaus Jakob. But this quiet German brand has made many fine watches in the last 20 years. This limited-edition watch was released in 2005 to celebrate Horst Jakob’s 50 years as a watchmaker. It was one of 70 handmade by Horst, all of which use a classic A. Schild AS 1123 movement dating to the 1940’s.

Update: Sold for €850 (€1,260 or $1,375 all-in)

This limited-edition was hand made by German watchmaker Horst Jakob to celebrate 50 years at the trade

The Jacques Etoile brand dates to 1996, when Klaus Jakob created the brand to showcase his own fine watchmaking skills as well as those of his father, Horst Jakob. Their jewelry shop in Lörrach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany had developed a good reputation and strong relationships with watch component companies. Like Chronoswiss and others, Jacques Etoile became known for reworking historic movements (many new old stock) and placing them in beautiful classic cases. Many of these celebrated classic watches, such as their Bidynator (a homage to Felsa) while others sported exotic complications like their Progress-powered tourbillon. These later Jacques Etoile watches used cases machined by SUG of Glashütte, a sister company of Sinn.

The hand-decorated AS 1123 movement is visible through a sapphire case back, as the limited edition number

All of this is a long-winded way to say that, although you probably don’t know Jacques Etoile, their watches are worth knowing. And this Horst Jakob anniversary model is definitely worth the €1,200 estimate Auctionata placed on it in their January 14 auction. It’s in excellent condition, comes with the original box, and represents real watchmaking skill. Since the watch went un-sold in December 2015 (and un-bid if I remember correctly), I expect it to sell for the low end of that range.