# Watchmaker's tools: what each one is for

> What a watchmaker's loupe, screwdrivers, tweezers, movement holder and parts tray are for, how to choose them and how to look after them. Free guide from the Tool room.

Source page: https://thewatchschool.com/lessons/watchmaker-tools

Five basic bench tools, what each one touches, how to choose it and how to care for it. In the school's Tool room you can try each one, then steady your hand in the screwdriver lab.

## Loupe (magnifier)

See small details: scratches, marks, a pin out of its hole.

- **What it touches:** Nothing. It never touches the watch.
- **Choosing one:** Start with a modest magnification; stronger loupes show less at once and need a steadier hold. Hold it close to your eye and bring the work up to it, with your hands or elbows resting on the bench to keep steady.
- **Looking after it:** Keep the lens clean and stored in its case.
- **In the school:** There is no loupe game: Lesson 1 zooms the drawing to each part for you. A screen is not real optics.

## Watchmaker's screwdrivers

Turn small slotted screws without marking them or the parts around them.

- **What it touches:** The screw slot only.
- **Choosing one:** Choose the blade that fills the slot: too wide rests on the plate and scars it; too narrow twists in the slot and marks the head. Inspect the tip first.
- **Looking after it:** Keep tips dressed (square and clean); a worn tip slips. Never use a screwdriver to lever parts in this course.
- **In the school:** Width classes, not millimetres. Firmness is a choice you make: the screen cannot measure force, torque or feel. Practice does not qualify you to work on a real watch.

## Tweezers

Hold and place small parts without fingers.

- **What it touches:** Small parts only.
- **Choosing one:** Fine, clean tips for small parts; brass or antimagnetic types are common at the bench.
- **Looking after it:** Keep the tips aligned and clean; bent tips flick parts away.
- **In the school:** In the lab, tweezers lift a freed screw to the tray. Grip control is not simulated yet.

## Movement holder

Holds a movement still so both hands are free and the plate is not handled.

- **What it touches:** The movement edge.
- **Choosing one:** Sized to the movement; jaws grip the edge, never the parts.
- **Looking after it:** Keep jaws clean so they do not mark the edge.
- **In the school:** Shown here as the fixture that holds the training plate. Real movements are not opened in this unit.

## Parts tray

Keep every removed part in its own labelled cell so it goes back where it came from.

- **What it touches:** Removed parts.
- **Choosing one:** Covered trays with separate cells.
- **Looking after it:** One part per cell; keep the cover on.
- **In the school:** The lab checks which cell you used; it does not simulate dust.

Try it: [Open the Tool room](https://thewatchschool.com/school?area=tools)

## Sources

- US War Department, TM 9-1575, Ordnance Maintenance: Wrist Watches, Pocket Watches, Stop Watches, and Clocks, 6 April 1945. Pages cited as printed page (PDF page = printed + 5 in chapter 1).
- F. J. Britten, The Watch & Clock Makers' Handbook, Dictionary and Guide, 9th edition, London: E. & F. N. Spon, 1896. Printed page (PDF = printed + 7).

A learning game, not a qualification. Nothing here makes anyone ready to open or repair a real watch.