An apparatus for crimping expandable prosthetic heart valves, the apparatus comprising jaws having a linear movement towards a centre, a stationary base including guidance slits facing the centre, and a rotating mechanical member rotating around the centre, the member including a spiral track, and three removable accessories consisting of: a handle level stop member 108 removably attached to the valve crimping device within an aperture formed in the housing 2, the handle stop member 108 calibrated to stop movement of the handle 5 when the proper aperture size is reached for a particular crimping operation； a crimped valve gauge 112 removably mounted on the base 4 and providing a tube 116 having a tapered throughbore with a minimum diameter that is equal to the minimum aperture diameter as limited by the stop member 108； and a balloon gauge removably mounted on the base 4 having an inner diameter calibrated to the desired maximum size of the expanding balloon used to deliver the prosthetic valve.
