Sandrine Raffin – Bow maker

Île-de-France – 1972

Sandrine Raffin is a bow maker and has been a music enthusiast since she was very young. It was her father, himself a bow maker, who passed on this passion for the craft. At the age of fifteen, she entered the École nationale de lutherie in Mirecourt.  As soon as she graduated, she has joined the family bow-making workshop on rue de Rome, which she still occupies today. She works there for French and foreign customers, including violinists Renaud Capuçon, Patrice Fontanarosa and the Ébène and Zaïde quartets.

Research and innovation

Sandrine Raffin puts her artistic sensibility at the service of bow making. Having practiced music herself, she understands the relationship a musician has with his or her instrument. In her workshop, she creates, repairs and restores bows, both antique and contemporary.

“I perform certain operations in apnea, to listen to the wood. To do this job, you have to be meticulous, patient, respectful and humble.”

Transmission

Sandrine Raffin is a qualified trainer. She passes on her know-how to apprentices from all over the world. In 2007, she took over the family workshop and in 2012 was awarded the title of Master Craftswoman.

Fondation Rémy Cointreau has supported Sandrine Raffin in 2018. It helped her acquire a new machine enabling her to increase her pernambuco wood cutting production, while minimizing offcuts.