Handmade Violins for Serious Students: Our Top Choices!

Colin Cross is a British maker and restorer whose instruments are played by professional musicians across the United Kingdom and abroad. His reputation as a restorer is well earned, and players and dealerships send specialist projects to him from hundreds of miles away.

He works principally from Stradivari and Guarneri del Gesu, and makes violins, violas and cellos. The finishes are deep and unshowy, with the detail of the woodwork left visible rather than obscured, and his cellos are often built to slightly smaller dimensions than standard.

Cross instruments are in the hands of high-profile players in the UK and overseas, and his restoration work passes through many of the country's leading workshops.

We have been admirers of Colin's work for years, and what keeps us going back is the value. His Stradivari models give a rich, full sound with real projection and precision, and a resonance through the middle register that is unusual at this level. The Guarneri models sit darker and warmer, well rounded and complex, and suit expressive playing. His cellos are worth singling out: the smaller dimensions make them very comfortable under the hand and quick to respond, with a clear core and weight in the lower strings that never costs the sweetness up top. One of the best quartet cellos we have handled.

Emanuele Curtoni is a young Italian luthier based in Pistoia, making violins, violas and cellos in both modern and antiqued finishes.

He trained in the workshop of Gabriele Natali and still works there. His wood selection is unusually careful for a maker at his stage, and the craftsmanship reflects a training that has not been rushed.

His instruments are played by advanced and professional players in Italy and the United Kingdom.

The 2023 violin we had was very impressive and the craftsmanship showcased real skill. It has a powerful, deep sound, and from the G string right to the top register there is a resonance that lets the player express themselves freely. The E is bright and projecting, and the overall acoustic profile can handle any repertoire. At his price point it is a genuinely impressive instrument, and he is one of the makers we expect to be talking about differently in a few years.

Philippe Briand is a French luthier based in Canterbury, Kent. He works both as a maker and, principally, as a restorer, and is very well known for his varnish.

He trained at the Newark School of Violin Making from 2001 to 2005 under Patrick Jowett, Kerry Boylan, Robert Cain, Paul Harrild and Paul Gossling. He went on to become senior restorer at Bridgewood and Neitzert in London, and has worked freelance for J&A Beare since 2015. He makes violins, violas, cellos and double basses.

His instruments are played by orchestral and chamber musicians across the United Kingdom, and his restoration work passes through some of London's most significant workshops.

The violin we had from Philippe was very even and a delight to play. The bow travels seamlessly from one string to the next and the sound stays smooth right through, with good projection that carries in larger spaces. It suits orchestral or chamber playing particularly well. His restoration background is not incidental to that: a maker who spends most of his time inside other people's instruments tends to build with a very clear idea of what actually works.

Ulf Kloo is a Swedish master luthier working from his own workshop in Beziers, in the south of France. He makes violins and violas, and numbers his instruments by opus.

He works both to his own models and from Stradivari's golden period, and chooses wood with unusual care: the maple on one of his violas was cut around 1950, and a recent violin used carefully selected Bosnian bird's eye maple for the back and sides. His violas are designed to make demanding repertoire manageable while keeping an expressive voice, and every instrument leaves the workshop with his own certificate.

His instruments have been exhibited at the Cremona Triennale in 1997 and 2009, at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2004, at the Concours Etienne Vatelot in Paris in 2011, at the Conservatoire de Paris in 2012, and at the Amati Exhibition in London in 2015. Kloo violins and violas are played in symphony orchestras and opera houses, by section leaders, and by freelance musicians and advanced students.

Ulf combines elegance and creativity to make instruments of very high calibre. The sound has incredible depth and outstanding projection, and the violins respond extremely well to whatever the player gives them, which is why they suit a musician still developing as much as an established one. The violas are the ones we would single out: they sound wonderful in every register and are comfortable enough to make hard repertoire feel less hard.