Son and student of Charles François Gand, whose workshop he took over in 1845. He did not make many new violins, the few he did make are of excellent quality, though. Like his father, he became the violin maker for the royal and later imperial court orchestra and for the conservatory. In 1855, his brother Charles Nicolas Eugène joined his business, creating the company "Gand Frères" that existed until Charles Adolphe's death in 1866.