Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
ROLLS-ROYCE EXPLORES A VERY UNIQUE MUSE: A ROLLS-ROYCE ROSE
12.05.2020 Press Release
This year more than ever, as we have been confined to our homes while the natural world flourishes around us, we are reminded of the wonders of nature. Spring is a time of hope and optimism, when bird song crescendos and flowers greet us with heady scent and vibrant colour. As we approach the first ever online RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Rolls-Royce looks a little closer to home and reflects on a Bespoke and storied rose, preparing for an abundant bloom.
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Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
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Emma Rickett
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
- A Rose, bred exclusively for the marque by award winning British breeder Philip Harkness, grows only at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West Sussex
- The Rose debuted in a one-off design for Phantom’s Gallery, the stage for individual works of art in the flagship’s dashboard, protected by an uninterrupted pane of glass
- The Rose later acted as inspiration for an extraordinary Bespoke commission, consisting of over one million stitches, in a one-of-a-kind Phantom
- Rolls-Royce releases a new, extended film of The Rose Phantom
This year more than ever, as we have been confined to our homes
while the natural world flourishes around us, we are reminded of the
wonders of nature. Spring is a time of hope and optimism, when bird
song crescendos and flowers greet us with heady scent and vibrant
colour. As we approach the first ever online RHS Chelsea Flower Show,
Rolls-Royce looks a little closer to home and reflects on a Bespoke
and storied rose, preparing for an abundant bloom.
In the courtyard of the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, West
Sussex, a rare flower — the Phantom Rose — is cultivated. Bred solely
for the marque as a source of inspiration, Rolls-Royce’s Global Centre
of Luxury Manufacturing Excellence is the only place in the world
where this rose can be found.
British Rose breeder Philip Harkness, of the award winning
Harkness Roses, bred the Phantom Rose especially for the Rolls-Royce
Bespoke Collective. His family has been breeding roses since 1879,
establishing a tradition of beautiful blooms associated with the
Harkness name. Today, plants and flowers bred by Harkness Roses remain
a constant favourite on the international horticultural scene, winning
gold at the prestigious RHS Chelsea Flower Show more than 25 times in
the last 50 years.
On commissioning the rose, Rolls-Royce Bespoke Designer
Sina-Maria Eggl, commented, “The rose had to embody Rolls-Royce’s
poise, elegance and allure. The result was a very pure, delicate but
voluminous white flower: sensual, but strong in presence, with an
alluring aroma and extra winter durability.”
The Phantom Rose grows in a specially designed bed, fringed with
lavender, running alongside the reflection ponds adjacent to the
marque’s award winning Sir Nicholas Grimshaw plant. Indeed, it is no
coincidence that both Rolls-Royce associates and the marque’s Bespoke
Designers can view the rose bed through the plant’s floor-to-ceiling
glass as they work.
The Phantom Rose is a blousy, creamy-white flower, offering a
full bloom of 50 petals and a rich perfume. Harkness describes it as a
quintessentially English rose, which took eight years to develop. It
was, he says, a labour of love. “A rose has the ability to captivate
you on many levels. It is a thing of beauty, it can stimulate the
senses with wonderful perfume, the soft touch of the petals or the
rasping pain from a thorn. It touches our emotions, signifies love and
appears in some of our finest poetry. How can a simple flower live up
to this expectation? The rose that Rolls-Royce has commissioned makes
easy work of the task. Observe the glory of the bloom. There can be
few more enjoyable experiences, thanks to the unending generosity and
diversity of nature captured in one single rose.”
In 2017, an iteration of the rose debuted in a one-off design
for Phantom’s Gallery. The Gallery is protected by an uninterrupted
piece of glass that spans the width of the marque’s flagship, behind
which a recess presents an up-lit stage, becoming an area for patrons
to embrace the unique storytelling characteristic of the marque.
Stems of the rose were flown to awaiting master artisans from
world-renowned porcelain manufacturer Nymphenburg, Bavaria, Southern
Germany. Here, the rose was examined in its varying stages, from bud
to full bloom, before being crafted by hand for the Gallery in the
finest black and white porcelain ever created by the company. The
development process alone lasted three months in order to achieve the
same level of delicacy as the Phantom Rose itself.
More recently, the Phantom Rose acted as a primary point of
inspiration for Rolls-Royce Bespoke Designer Ieuan Hatherall. It was
here that an extraordinary Bespoke commission began, consisting of
over one million stitches, for a Swedish entrepreneur with a passion
for flowers. The Phantom Rose is illustrated in varying stages of
maturity in the finest embroidery throughout the interior of a highly
unique, one-of-a-kind Phantom.
Ieuan Hatherall commented, “There is a transcendent beauty when
a rose garden is in full bloom. The commissioning patron wanted to
create that same feeling of awe; an abundance of flowers to lift the
spirit and celebrate nature’s decadent beauty.”
Ahead of the first ever online RHS Chelsea Flower Show, 18-23
May, Rolls-Royce releases an extended interview with the commissioning
patron of The Rolls-Royce Rose Phantom. Click here to
view the extended film.