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Vautier Engraving Tools

Modern engraving equipment may have streamlined jewelry making, but antique engraving tools, such as those made by the Vautier company, are still prized for their quality. Samuel Vautier & Son of Carouge, Switzerland, made tools for watch makers and jewelers, according to the Official Catalogue of the International Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia. The following year, the company was lauded for its superior hand craftsmanship in the British Parliament̵7;s House of Commons Papers Vol. 34. Vautier also made tools for copperplate engraving, a common process for reproducing artwork at the time.

Many Vautier tools are incised with ̶0;VAUTIER.̶1; Look for the mark near the base of the wooden handle or on the grip.

Scriber
- A scriber is a pen-shaped tool made of steel that was used to mark pencil sketches prior to the design being cut or etched with a graver.
Graver
- A graver is a metal tool with a rectangular section and a flattened, beveled head with two curved sides. Gravers were made in various sizes and thicknesses to engrave different size lines.
Metal Punch
- Roughly cylindrical in shape, a metal punch has one blunt end and one flattened, pointed head. It was used to etch design details.
Punch Cleaner
- A punch cleaner is a wooden-handled tool with a hollow brass tubular end and a small brass disc or cog with a groove down the sides and a hole in the center. It was used together with string and a pulley to clean punches. The punch was inserted in the end and rotated on a whetstone.
File
- An engraver̵7;s file is a regular metal woodworking file with diagonal grooves on the cutting surface. It may or may not have had a wooden handle.
Scraper
- A scraper is a wooden-handled tool with a flat steel blade. It is used to scrape away burrs of copper that are gouged out by a punch or graver on a copper printing plate.
Other Tools
- Other common 19th Century engraving tools include magnifying glasses, a whetstone for sharpening metal tools, wire coil for attaching wooden handles to metal tools and dabbers made of rolled felt to clean off the etched surface to make the design more visible during etching. Pieces of lead were used to clean metal tools.

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