18 essential watchmaking tools

18 Essential Watchmaking Tools for a Beginner

Maybe you’re a watch collector and want to add to your hobby. Maybe you’re considering watchmaking as a potential career choice.

Either way, you’ll need tools, but when you visit one of the wholesalers online, you’re overwhelmed with the huge variety of tools and equipment. What do you need, and do you need it right away?

This list of tools will help you get started with watchmaking. You can always buy more tools when you gain more experience or when you need something specific (and you will).

Screwdrivers

Screwdrivers and tweezers are essential tools for a watchmaker.

Buy a good set that’ll last rather than a cheap one because a cheap set will break and damage your movement. You don’t have to immediately invest in the most expensive set available.

I bought a 9-piece A*F carousel set and replaced the blades with Bergeon hardened steel ones.

I currently use the Bergeon 30081-S09 set and a Beco set with 9 screwdrivers and spare blades. The Bergeon 30081-S09 is my main set and the Beco set is dressed to be used with modern watches.

Tweezers

Just like the screwdrivers, tweezers are essential because they’re your primary tools.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to invest in a high-quality antimagnetic tweezers such as a Dumont.

A #2 or #3 tweezers work well for all-around use. You could use a #5 when working on the hairspring or shock protection system.

Brass tweezers are great because they’re soft and won’t damage the movement. They’re also antimagnetic.

A brass pair of tweezers is helpful when you need to grab larger parts, such as bridges, or when you’re working on the mainspring or keyless works.

Movement Holder

In order to work on a movement, you need to secure it with a movement holder. Because parts of the machine protrude from it that could easily be damaged, such as the cannon pinion and sweep second pinion, it can’t be laid flat on the desk.

The Bergeon 4040 and 4039 are very common universal movement holders.

Each is available in either steel or carbon fiber.

Bergeon 4040 movement holders and a 4039 movement holder.
2 Bergeon 4040 movement holders and a 4039 movement holder.

Loupe

You’ll need a loupe to see the tiny parts you’re working on.

A loupe with a medium magnification like x4 or x5 is sufficient for most work and can be worn at all times.

Using a headband, you can press the loupe against your eye while keeping both hands free to work on the watch. Both loupes can be found on the same page.

Another loupe (x10) is useful for inspecting jewel holes, balance staffs, etc.

Watch Case Tools

Before you can even begin to work on a movement, you’ll have to open the case first.

The two most used types of case backs are the “snap-on backs” and the “screw-in backs.”

I like to use a “sticky ball” to open screw-in backs if I can because it won’t damage the case at all. These are available on eBay as well.

If the back is very tight, I use a Jaxa tool.

The snap-on backs require a bit of practice because you want to cause as little damage to the case and case back as possible.

Use a case knife to apply force and create a slit to pop the case back off.

Most of the time, you can reinstall a snap-on case back with your thumbs. If it doesn’t work, you can use a press like this one.

Watch Hand Removing and Fitting Tools

Before you can remove the dial and start working on the movement, you’ll need to remove the hands first.

This can be done with a Presto puller tool or a set of levers.

I prefer a set of levers because I feel I have more control over the speed and the amount of pressure that is on the hands. In my opinion, the risk of damage is higher when you use a Presto puller tool but YMMV.

After the service, the hands need to be fitted again.

You can either use manual handles or a hand fitting press.

A set of A*F hand removing levers.
A set of A*F hand removing levers.

Peg Wood

Sharpen a peg wood and use it to pre-clean the parts before they go into the watch cleaning machine. The areas you should pre-clean are the jewel holes, bushes, the pallet stones, the crown of the pallets, and any areas that are caked with old hardened lubrication or dirt.

It works very well because the wood is hard enough to remove dirt but not that hard that it’ll damage the movement.

You can also use a peg wood to hold down a part (balance cock, pallet cock, etc.) while you’re unscrewing them or screwing them down.

Rodico

Rodico is the WD40 of watchmakers. You can use it for almost everything.

It’s highly absorbent, and it virtually leaves no residue behind.

It can be used to clean jewel holes after you’ve pre-cleaned them with a peg wood and to remove any excess lubrication. You can also use it to remove fingerprints and to lift parts.

For example, I sometimes use Rodico to lift parts like the ratchet wheel, the crown wheel, tiny screws, and cap jewels.

Demagnetizer

Magnetism is one of the most common causes of a watch to run poorly.

The hairspring windings of a magnetized watch often stick together. Therefore, the rate will be highly erratic, and the watch will most likely gain a considerable amount of time per day. We’re talking minutes here.

It’s an excellent idea to demagnetize all watch parts before you clean them in the watch cleaning machine. If you don’t, magnetized particles can come loose and stick to other parts.

You can imagine why that would be bad.

There are two types of demagnetizers.

A small type with a button that you need to hold down while you slowly move the magnetized item or complete movement away.

The other type is electronic and instantly demagnetizes parts or a complete movement with one push of a button.

You can also buy the small types on eBay, and they’re quite cheap. The electronic ones are costly, but they’re more powerful and effortless to use.

I have a compact demagnetizer for tools, and I demagnetize parts and movements with an electronic demagnetizer.

Essential watchmaking tools
An Elma Antimag and a compact demagnetizer from eBay.

Digital Calipers

You’ll mainly use the digital calipers to measure the inside of the bezel if you need to replace a crystal. It’s also useful when you need to replace the winding stem.

You can also use it to measure the movement. Sometimes you need the size in ligne to identify a movement, for example, with Bestfit.

1 ligne = 2.2558 mm.

Watch Cleaning Machine

You need a way to clean the watch parts and dry them.

You could do this manually, but I wouldn’t advise it. It’s very labor-intensive, and the results are likely not as good as they can be.

You can buy an older watch cleaning machine on eBay or from a watchmaker. These older machines often have three jars and a heating compartment.

The first jar is for cleaning the parts, and the next two pots are for rinsing. Finally, the parts will be dried in the dryer container.

I use L&R 566 in the cleaning jar and L&R #3 in the two rinsing jars.

Dust Blower

A dust blower is a convenient tool to remove lint and dust particles. You can use it to remove small hairs and lint from a movement. It’s also a good idea to use it to clean the dial just before you fit the crystal.

Don’t use your mouth to blow inside a movement or on a dial because you’ll blow a fine mist of moisture with it, which will destroy the movement and dial over time.

Oiling Tools

The movement needs to be lubricated with different kinds of oils and greases.

An excellent way to conveniently store the oils and keep them handy is to use oil pots. You can either use loose cups or sets (often with four pots).

You’ll need oilers to collect a tiny bit of oil and deliver it into the jewel hole, arbor, etc. Too little lubrication causes friction, but too much oil can also be bad for the movement.

Therefore, it’s a good idea to start with decent quality oilers like a Bergeon or A*F set.

Essential watchmaking tools
A Bergeon oil pot set.

Pith Wood

A piece of pith wood is used to clean and dry your oilers, screwdrivers, and tweezers when you’ve used them. The wood is very absorbent, and you can use it many times before you need to change it.

You could also use a piece of Rodico.

Bench Mat

A bench mat is useful for a couple of reasons.

It’s soft and therefore prevents small parts from bouncing away if they fall. It’s easy to wipe clean before every repair or service.

Perhaps the most important reason is that the soft green color is easy on the eyes because you’ll be seeing a lot of the subsurface through your eyeglass.

Finger Cots

Sometimes it’s useful to use your fingers to hold the movement. When you fit the set lever, for example.

To prevent fingerprints, you should wear finger cots.

Essential watchmaking tools
A box of finger cots.

Lidded Trays

These trays are handy to store parts. You can even use it to cover a movement on a movement holder when you’re not working on it.

The parts stay clean, and it keeps dust away.

This is very handy when you’re working on more than one movement at a time or when you have to wait for the necessary parts to arrive.

They also have compartments that you can use to sort related parts, so it’ll be easier to reassemble the movement.

Timing Machine

When you’ve serviced a watch, you need to make sure that you’ve done an excellent job.

You can do so by placing your watch on the timing machine to check the amplitude, the rate, and the beat error.

Expensive Swiss timing machines are very accurate, and they’re able to display a lot of information. A timing machine like a Witschi is a perfect choice for the professional watchmaker.

But a timing machine like this Multifunction Timegrapher No. 1000 is more than enough for the hobbyist watchmaker. You can use it to check the amplitude, beat error, and amplitude to regulate your watch as accurately as possible.

You can also use it to read a watch and detect common problems.

Is This All?

These are the essential watchmaking tools that you’ll need to service a watch movement.

It might not seem like a lot, but it’ll cost you around $600 to $800. That’s without the cleaning fluids and the various kinds of oils and greases.

Over time you’ll want to upgrade some tools to better quality ones, and you might start looking for more specialized tools.

Tools that might be useful are a crystal lift and a crystal press, files, pliers, cutters, and mainspring winders.

When you’re more advanced, you might start looking for a staking set, stone press, etc.


Do you miss an essential watchmaker tool? Let me know in the comments below.

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14 thoughts on “18 Essential Watchmaking Tools for a Beginner”

  1. Michael Tate SR

    thinking a cheap compass, fine whet stone, and a sturdy polystyrene pick are essential tools also a cheap set of screwdrivers with the heads removed and the blades ground to round to drive out pins etc. the compass of course to test for magnetism the pick holds stuff down whet stone to reshape screw driver tips

  2. What about a Mainspring Winder? I know a lot of old school watchmakers do this by hand but surely that doesn’t help minimise contamination and rubbing off the newly added grease, unless ofcourse you always replace the mainspring.

  3. Great detailed list of essential tools, one I can certainly relate to having been learning watchmaking for 10 months now.

    One basic but essential tool you’ve forgotten is a humble magnet, nothing more annoying and frustrating than a watch part that springs off the movement or is dropped on the floor never to be seen again. My magnet has saved me hours of wasted time on my hands and knees 🙂

  4. Hi
    I’m watch collector for long time .I live in California San Diego
    My dream to be watch maker If someone can help me me please.. I will Appreciate.Thanks

  5. WONDERFUL information! My hubby is interested in hobby watch making and this article has given me everything I need to get him started. Time to get shopping for his birthday gifts!
    Thanks 😊

  6. This is great. Thank you. Any online class that can be taken to learn the basics?

  7. I came across this article mainly because I collect watches and sometimes just need to adjust length or change straps. Rather than going to the dealer, I am thinking I can probably do this myself. So I don’t plan on changing or repairing or servicing internal movements. Could you recommend a set of tools that would be able to help me that would be good across most brands considering the differences in how the straps are constructed and attached? Thank you.

  8. Matthew William girardier

    Researching my family tree I have recently discovered my family history of watchmaking. I’m a descendant of Charles Girardier. I’m fascinated by the skill and trade. I want to learn this skill and trade can you help me get started while I’m still young?

    1. Hi,

      Good to hear you’re fascinated by watchmaking because there’s a demand for new/young watchmakers. I’m not a professional watchmaker so I think it would be best to read this article by NoBS Watchmaker.

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