About Newton Violins
Newton Violins is a family business, now in its second generation of luthiers. Violin making and restoration has a history in the family and goes right back to the 1800’s when their ancestors were making in London’s East End.
When David Newton joined Potters Music Shop (Croydon) in the early 1960′s he dedicated much of his time to developing the shops orchestral strings department. Having spent his early twenties training as a bow maker under the tutelage of Percival Bryant and Arthur Bultitude . His passion for violin repair and restoration, as well as bow making, led, in the mid 70′s to the opening of a dedicated shop in Merstham. David drew clients from all over the UK who sought out his knowledge of repair and violin history.
After David bought out Potters in the 1980′s he gradually moved the entire business to the site in Merstham, and closed the company's original South Croydon store. When his daughter Emma joined the staff permanently in the early 90′s the shop was re-named Newtons. Emma worked alongside her father for over 25 years before he retired, learning on the job, and developing her natural talent for repair and restoration work. Her interest in all things string led her to develop her own ideas on modernising the violin - she started making electric violins, and with the help and guidance of her father created a number of interesting shapes and styles, experimenting with custom paint finishes and patterns.
In 1999 Emma launched The Rainbow Violin Company, the world's first ever brand of brightly coloured student violin outfits, which were hand finished in the Merstham workshops. The award-winning company was created to make violin learning fun for children, but actually ended up selling many full-size violins to professional trios and quartets who wanted to "stand out from the crowd". These included making a quartet of white violins for the Westlife 2002 stadium tour, and a special gold violin for the Charlie Daniels Museum in Nashville.
Emma's knowledge has been learnt and absorbed through being in and around the workshop since childhood. Emma watched her father work and was able to undertake small repairs from a very young age, she grew up with tools and wood becoming a natural part of her environment and has developed an intuition for finding and repairing faults. Emma is also able to advise on instrument values and assess. In 2018 after the family shop closed, Emma set up her workshop at home in Surrey, but in September 2024 relocated to the picturesque countryside in West Sussex where she welcomes visitors by appointment.
Our own brand MAX JORGE has become the recommended brand for local teachers and boasts 8 models starting with the Graduate, and following with various options to take you on through all the grades. We individually select a number of one-off handmade violins from a handful of small workshops in China which range in price from £300 – £2000. Antique violins start from £500 up to £5,000 and our on-site workshops enable us to carry out all types of restoration projects large & small.
Every instrument purchased from stock can be adjusted to your requirements.