Yet, in his youth, Charles’ career path was not a foregone conclusion, even though his stepfather’s family had been in the violin business for several generations. After finishing school, Charles first entered the National Service, where he served for two years as a Second Lieutenant with the Middlesex regiment stationed in Cyprus. When he returned to London, his initial idea of entering the shipbuilding business did not show much promise. Fortuitously, as Charles was considering his other options, his stepfather, William Beare, asked him to photograph a viola for the family business. The beauty of the instrument, and the process of methodically photographing it, captured Charles’s imagination and interest. He asked his stepfather what he would think if he decided to follow him into a career in the world of violins. “I think it would be very nice,” William replied.

And so it was.

In 1958, Charles enrolled in the violin-making school at Mittenwald, Germany, where he studied for almost two years before accepting an invitation to join the Rembert Wurlitzer Company in New York City. His nearly two years in New York, working in the company of Simone Sacconi, Dario D’Attili, and Rembert Wurlitzer, himself, left a deep imprint on Charles that set the stage for his later career. There, he acquired the strict discipline that builds expertise. He learned the value of archival research and the importance of methodical cataloging of instruments. Working at Wurlitzer gave him the opportunity to see some of the world’s greatest instruments first-hand and exposed him to the groundbreaking restoration techniques that the Wurlitzer workshop was developing. Reflecting on his New York years later in life, Charles spoke often about the compelling openness in communication that he found in the American violin world, in contrast to the culture of secrecy that prevailed elsewhere. He sought to spread this culture of knowledge-sharing throughout his extensive career.

Charles brought his newly-acquired knowledge and inspiration back to the family business when he returned to England in the early 1960s. Surely, in every way, he stood on the shoulders of Wurlitzer and Sacconi, but he also expanded on and deepened the knowledge of the old makers, building a workshop of craftspeople who developed innovative non-invasive techniques that respected the integrity of the instruments. He paid particular attention to the preservation of original varnish and crusaded relentlessly against what he considered to be the widespread practice of over-polishing. During one notable exchange at a Violin Society of America (VSA) presentation, Charles sparred in a good-natured, but very firm, way with his old Wurlitzer bench mate, Vahakn Nigogosian, about the common practice over-polishing and the use of white glue.

The reputation of the family firm grew tremendously over the succeeding years, after Charles’s return, attracting such renowned musicians of the day as Jacqueline du Pré, Nathan Milstein, Mstislav Rostropovich, Isaac Stern, Yo Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, Nigel Kennedy, Yehudi Menuhin, James Ehnes, and many more. Charles took great, old-fashioned, personal pride in the stewardship of instruments and care of clients. He devoted himself to organizations like the International Association of Violin and Bow Makers (Entente Internationale des Luthiers et Archetiers, or EILA) that promoted high professional standards, and he generously supported and encouraged learning at the violin-making schools and through his close association with the VSA, the American Federation of Violin and Bow Makers, and the British Violin Making Association.

The landmark 1987 Cremona Exhibition commemorating the 250th anniversary of Stradivari’s death stands as one of the greatest exhibitions of our time. Charles played a central part in organizing that event and in producing the publication that followed. His later contributions to the Stradivari Exhibition and catalogue at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, in 2013, surpassed, perhaps, even that achievement.

One of Charles’ most enduring passions was his research and study of Venetian plucked and bowed instruments from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. During his earlier Wurlitzer years, he met Paul Rosenbaum, a researcher Rembert Wurlitzer supported to study the old Venetian instrument makers. That massive research project fell to Charles to complete after the deaths of both Wurlitzer and Rosenbaum in the late 1960s. Charles devoted his life to achieving that goal, culminating with a half dozen research trips to Venice in the early 2000s, in the company of a small group of colleagues he dubbed the “Professori.” Charles was unable to complete the work in his lifetime, but the research, writing, and photography is nearly complete. The book will surely be published as a testament to his legacy.

The last decade of Charles’s life, after he relocated his business to his property in Kent, near Chiddingstone, was, in many ways, his most enjoyable. Having sold the J & A Beare company to his partners in 2012, Charles was free to operate under the name of the family company, Beare Violins Ltd, in a way that best suited him. In Kent, away from the hustle and bustle of Mayfair, Charles could work near the home that he shared with his wife, Penny, and their two loyal German Shorthair Pointers. Most gratifying was the day-to-day camaraderie with his two sons, Peter and Freddie. Peter had worked closely with Charles for decades, but Freddie came to the violin business circuitously, much as his father had done sixty-six years earlier. Charles and his older son, Peter, renovated a large antique barn to house their beautiful showrooms and offices, using an adjoining historic building as the workshop. Over his final years, Charles greeted a steady stream of international visitors who sought his valued opinion about their instruments. Joining the three Beares was a small dream team of longtime employees from the London company, who continue to carry out world-class restorations and trade in the finest quality instruments.

Charles Beare passed away peacefully at the age of 87 on the evening of April 26th, 2025, at home, surrounded by his family. His health had been failing, and his passing was not a surprise to those close to him; but the loss of this larger-than-life personality remains deeply felt by the many whose lives he touched.

Charles Beare is survived by his wife, Penny, four children, and seven grandchildren.