Pocket watches or wrist watches? There are several methods depending on the type and style of the watch. Most pocket watches that don't have an actual tab to pull on to open them at the hinge may pop either open or off using a thin tool in a slight gap between the cover and the body; others unscrew, and getting a good grip on the cover can be tricky - there are rubber pads made for this purpose. Using the wrong method can damage the case. Wrist watches used to mainly use the pop-open method, though some unscrewed using special wrenches of various types. If there are little notches spaced around the cover, or a slightly raised area with flat sides, or two or more tiny holes near the edges, those are probably for a special wrench. There are also special wrenches that just grip a round edge very closely and tightly. (Many modern watches have covers held on with screws, but that's pretty obvious).
Oh, just wrist watches. I found the little notches you mentioned, but didn't have anything to open it up - or so I thought. I took it to a watch repair place and the guy popped them open with...wait for it...a box cutter! And to think I had a box cutter in my tool box!
A box-cutter qualifies as a "thin tool"; anything that will get into that tiny gap and is strong enough not to break or bend when you pop the cover. And I gather that some little notches don't mean the cover is a screw-on type. For the next step, taking the innards apart, I use tiny screwdrivers. Radio Shack and some hardware stores used to sell these, but they probably aren't hard to find.
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