Vatelot-Rampal, violin makers on rue Portalis since 1909

Vatelot-Rampal is a violin maker’s workshop opened in 1909 at 11 bis rue Portalis, in the 8th arrondissement. Marcel Vatelot, born in 1884 to parents from Mirecourt and grandson of a Lorraine luthier, trained in Mirecourt and Paris before opening his own house.

In 1910 he married the daughter of the cellist André Hekking, and the workshop became Vatelot-Hekking. Maurice Ravel, Camille Saint-Saëns and the violinist Ginette Neveu came here. His son Étienne later adjusted the sound of Yehudi Menuhin, Isaac Stern, Mstislav Rostropovich and Yo-Yo Ma.

Étienne Vatelot took over from his father in 1959. He trained more than fifty pupils, founded the Mirecourt school of violin making in 1970 and restored the Stradivarius quartet of the Royal Palace in Madrid. Jean-Jacques Rampal, his assistant for over twenty-five years, succeeded him in 1998.

Since 2023, Jonathan Marolle and Cécile Paumier have led the workshop, still at 11 bis rue Portalis. Musicians come for sound adjustment, restoration and upkeep, to buy or sell a violin or a bow by appointment, and for certificates of authenticity.