An illuminating tweezers for grasping and manipulating small articles includes a single light emitting diode (LED) and powering battery located in an upper centrally-located barrel end of a monolithic body made of a light transmissive polymer. A beam-splitter lens molded into the body splits a single beam of light emitted by the LED into a pair of beams which are directed into upper ends of a pair of elastically bendable arms that depend downwardly from opposed longitudinal sides of the barrel. The pair of light beams are conducted downwardly through the arms by total internal reflection, and reflected downwardly and inwardly towards an illumination region located between lower ends of the arms by downwardly and inwardly oriented oblique end faces at lower ends of the arms.