At 17 years old Otto Jakob began to teach himself to make jewelry. Inspired by the magic and artistic power of Etruscan, Celtic
and Hellenic masterpieces, he learned their complex techniques using treatises by Pliny and Cellini. Between 1977 and 1980 he studied painting with Georg Baselitz. Since 1980 he has devoted himself exclusively to the creation of jewelry.
The earliest collectors of his work were important artists and art dealers. The dealer Hans Neuendorf acquired the majority of his early pieces created between 1981 and 1986. Otto Jakob has collectors in Europe and the United States. He exhibits at the Daniel Blau Gallery in Munich, Colnaghi in London and at TEFAF in Maastricht.