It seems like a long time ago, but in reality it isn't, that I was chatting to the Wera staff at the end of the D and M Tool show in London. There was much jubilation because, contrary to what recession-hit trades might have expected, the vast majority of the stock Wera had brought to the show had been sold during the three days.

Now I am sure that a clever marketing analyst could come up with some complicated explanation for Wera's success, but when I spoke to some of the purchasers, what they told me was that they simply appreciate the outright quality and design excellence of the Wera range - and they were prepared to pay a premium for the sort of quality that is designed into the Wera system.

This quality was brought home to me again this weekend as I was roped in to helping my son and his business partner build some furniture and desks into their new London office. Every time I drove a screw I was grateful for the speed, practicality and longevity of the Wera driver system I was using. It outperformed everything that the other workers were using by such a margin that every time I put down my driver, somebody nicked it to work on their bit of the project. This is not the first time I have experienced this with Wera tools...

I refer of course to the Wera ZYKLOP ratchet. My sample of the half-inch drive system has been in regular use since I reviewed it last year, but I do have to keep a close eye on it. It keeps on being "borrowed".

My job was to review the smaller quarter inch Zyklop ratchet with a few of its accessories. My sample was presented to me in a dense foam drawer liner in characteristic Wera green and black.

Even the drawer liner has a story. The tools all fit very snugly into custom cut spaces in the liner in a very logical order. This is as expected. But Wera has taken a whole lot of other things into account with the drawer liner. -like the fact that there are a number of different drawer designs and depths out there. So the whole of the liner can be cut with a sharp craft knife to suit the drawer or workbox into which it is fitted.

The heart of the quarter inch system is the ZYKLOP ratchet as you would expect. It is a perfectly scaled down copy of the bigger ZYKLOP ratchets, with all the same features. So you still get the single button release mechanism for sockets and the facility to set the ratchet head at ninety degrees and also at about seventy degrees to reach more awkward spots. Reversing the ratchet involves a twiddle on the green milled head of the tool - much easier than it sounds.

A small sliding catch releases the ratchet head so that it can easily be repositioned if needed when used in a confined space. This also allows the ratchet to be used in the "screwdriver" position, so that the handle is vertical to the ratchet driver. The handle is the familiar black and green Wera Kraftform handle which is easy to hold and has just enough grippy rubber to be of use.

So the heart of the system is very good - but the imaginative complement of the tray set really makes this tool useful.

As you would expect, there is a row of 13 perfectly formed sockets in the set. These range from a tiny 4mm socket to a relatively manful 14mm one. When I wrote "perfectly formed" I chose my words carefully. Each socket has a milled edge on the top so that they can be finger-tightened more easily. The castings are perfectly finished, engraved with their sizes and can be used with the "wobble" extension bar that allows the socket to have a bit of flexible movement sometimes needed for using bolts in restricted situations.

But the clever design goes on. Used with the extension bars, losing a socket in places where fingers cannot go can happen. With the Wera design, it is possible to lock the sockets to the bars so that they will not come loose. The extension bars have a small button near the square end marked red and green. To lock the socket on, simply push it on, and push the red side of the button. Now it is not possible to lose the socket in the bowels of whatever you are working on.

The extension bars themselves also have milled tops for finger tightening and have a movable plastic sleeve to allow the bar to rotate easily between the fingers holding it.

Another little bit of genius is the inclusion of a small chuck. This looks very much like a standard Wera screwdriver bit holder and it works in a similar way in that the plastic sleeve on the chuck is pushed forward to release the tool and clicked in to lock the tool into place. This chuck can be used with the ZYKLOP ratchet, the extension bars and of course the sockets thus giving more variations for clever use by a skilled user.

Finally there is what seems like a standard Kraftform multi-component screwdriver handle with a chuck on the end. This is matched with a range of Torx, hex and screwdriver bits included in the set. These bits are long enough to be of nearly standard screwdriver length so are actually really easy to use. The bits can also be used with the chuck and ZYKLOP ratchet mentioned above if more torque is required. A small universal joint socket adds the final touch of flexibility.

So there you have it - a set of smallish tools obviously made to a high standard with all the flexibility and versatility needed for doing a huge range of small fitting jobs. My guess is that most users won't really appreciate what a good thing they have on their hands until they have used it for a few weeks.

Being part of the Wera system means that a wide range of other bits and sockets can be used and lost or worn out parts can be replaced singly at minimum expense.

Would I recommend it? Yes - without reservations. The ZYKLOP system is a market leader. Great design and manufacture ensure that in good times and bad, Wera products remain desirable by end users who seek quality.