History
Manufacturing of astronomical equipment has been the Uniwersal family business since 1986. This was also
the year when Chris Uniwersal was born. As a young boy, he loved to play LEGO Technics a lot
and spent time at his father’s workshop, trying things and peeking how to work with metal. When he was a
teenager, the LEGO bricks were replaced with aluminium elements made with old and noisy conventional
mills and lathes. At the end of the 1990’s the European market wasn’t easy for small firms, because it
was flooded with much cheaper Asian products. In the 21st century you can’t manufacture using only
conventional machines, so in 2010 Chris decided to build his own CNC centres with virtually
no financial resources. After a few years he equipped his workshop with DIY CNC machines, including
mills, lathes, 4-axis plasma cutters, benders, tumblers, engravers and sandblasters. During these hardworking
times, he was mostly focused on obtaining modern digital technologies in his workshop, learning
engineering, mechanics, welding, electronics, programming, CAD, CAM, 3D graphics and design.
Between 2013 and 2019, secondary activites were carrying the orders and building machines for various
branches of the industry. Customers from the astronomical branch were always around, asking to
manufacture OEM or custom products. Since 2005 till 2020, Chris was gathering the know-
how about coin-operated binoculars, experience and database of piers and adapters compatibility with most popular mounts. In 2020 he decided to found the BrightStar brand, gathering his optical products selected by the biggest potential for serial production. The year 2020 is the start of a new great chapter in manufacturing astronomical equipment by next Uniwersal family generation. Coin-operated viewers, piers, dollies and accesories are only for the begining of this great journey!
Today
Chris Uniwersal has been proud to cooperate with a complementary team for a few years now. These
guys are the best professionals in their fields and they like to spend time in the workshop more than at
home… . Martin is a young crazy welder, the master of precise handwork. He used to teach as a welding
instructor. He loves to play with conventional machines and he reads old machining books at night. Raphael
is our CNC specialist and programmer. After hours he manufactures bikes for extreme gravity sports.
The durability, lightweight and high end finish are crucial in these masterpiece products. When creating the
BrightStar brand, the team was completed by Michael, an astronomer and discoverer of 160 comets. His
scientific, astronomical and technical knowledge will help us in many ways to evolve onto next levels.