Francine Humbert-Droz was born into a family of watchmakers and music lovers in La Chaux-de-Fonds. From an early age, she was interested in classical music; she took violin lessons at the music academy of her hometown, and then later at the Ribaupierre Institute in Lausanne, with professor Jiri Trnka. At the same time, she trained as a teacher in Willems music education and gained her diploma in 1996.
She met Jacques Poullot, renowned French bowmaker, in Philippe Girardin’s workshop, where her brother Jean-Maurice was carrying out his lutherie apprenticeship. He offered her a bowmaker’s internship in his workshop in Dijon, where she discovered a trade combining precision and music. She finished her training alongside Luc Breton, who allowed her to specialise in baroque and classical bowmaking.
Since 2002, she has her own workshop in Lausanne at the chemin de Belle-Source.
She is a legal member of the ALADFi (Association des Luthiers et Archetiers pour le Développement de la Facture Instrumentale).
