Rolls-Royce Motor Cars PressClub · Article.
CRAFTING DREAMS INTO REALITY: ROLLS-ROYCE REFLECTS ON A YEAR OF MAGNIFICENT BESPOKE COMMISSIONS
20.12.2023 Press Release
A Bespoke Rolls-Royce is more than just a precious possession. For the commissioning client, it is the realisation of an ambition; a vision made solid; a dream come true. During 2023, those wishes inspired the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective to push their boundaries further than ever before.
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Author.
Malika Abdullaeva
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars
- Rolls-Royce Motor Cars celebrates some of the most visually striking, technically challenging and creatively ambitious Bespoke commissions of 2023
- Inspirations included scenic locations, rare and beautiful materials, clients’ signature colours, celestial phenomena and more
- Bespoke commissions are a testament to the exceptional skill of the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective and underline the marque’s status as a true House of Luxury
A Bespoke Rolls-Royce is more than just a precious
possession. For the commissioning client, it is the realisation of an
ambition; a vision made solid; a dream come true.
During 2023, those wishes inspired the Rolls-Royce Bespoke
Collective to push their boundaries further than ever before. The
year’s commissions opened up new opportunities in the use of rare and
beautiful materials, intricate craft techniques, surface finishes and
other innovative technologies. There were an exceptional number of
‘firsts’ for the marque, including hand-perforated leather seats,
Starlight Headliners incorporating mesmerising celestial animations
and three-dimensional sculptural elements, stunning engraved artworks,
numerous new paint processes and the first-ever commission to
incorporate a Bespoke scent.
Commissions drew inspiration from celestial events, the
mysteries of space, enchanting geographic locations, family legacies,
clients’ signature colours and much more. Below are just a few
spectacular examples that represent a lasting tribute to the vision,
imagination and ambition of the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective and the
remarkable clients who choose to celebrate their personal stories in
Bespoke works of art.
ROSE BLOSSOM PHANTOM
This one-of-one Phantom Extended evokes the beauty and
tranquillity of a summer garden. Embroidered artwork celebrates the
marque’s very own Phantom rose that blooms in the courtyard of the
Home of Rolls-Royce. This special flower is illustrated in the Gallery
and on the coach doors. In addition, the flowers are depicted in the
Starlight Headliner which took over 200 hours to complete. Four
species of butterfly – Swallowtail, Peacock, Common Blue and Duke of
Burgundy – can be seen flitting amongst the blooms.
The captivating floral theme continues in the intricate and
detailed rose marquetry on the passenger panel and rear waterfall.
PHANTOM SYNTOPIA
The most technically complex Bespoke commission ever
undertaken, Phantom
Syntopia was created in collaboration with Dutch fashion
designer and Haute Couturière Iris van Herpen. It explores the beauty
of fluid motion in solid materials in its ‘Weaving Water’ theme, which
extends across the Gallery artwork, picnic tables, front passenger
panel, bonnet and Bespoke Starlight Headliner.
The ‘Weaving Water’ Starlight Headliner alone took almost 700
hours to produce, using a single sheet of leather overlaid on woven
‘liquid metal’ fabric to create a three-dimensional effect. It
includes 162 delicate glass organza ‘petals’, applied at the Home of
Rolls-Royce by members of Iris van Herpen’s team.
The rear seats are upholstered in a specially created silk-blend
fabric with the Weaving Water motif. For a long-lasting, sophisticated
sensory experience Bespoke Collective incorporated a scent-releasing
mechanism, housed within the headrests.
BLACK BADGE GHOST ÉKLEIPSIS COLLECTION
Rolls-Royce
Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private
Collection explores the captivating interplay of light
and darkness as the Moon obscures the Sun during a total solar eclipse.
The fully Bespoke Starlight Headliner includes an animated
sequence replicating the moment of totality: a circle of 940
fibre-optic ‘stars’ represents the corona around the Moon’s
silhouette, surrounded by a further 192 ‘stars’. The animation remains
visible for precisely seven minutes and 31 seconds – the longest
possible duration of a total solar eclipse.
The illuminated fascia features 1,846 laser-etched ‘stars’ in a
symbolic timeline of a total eclipse. The design culminates in a
Bespoke timepiece incorporating a brilliant-cut 0.5-carat diamond set
into the bezel, recalling the ‘Diamond Ring’ effect.
BLACK BADGE CULLINAN BLUE SHADOW
The Black
Badge Cullinan Blue Shadow Private Collection is
inspired by the Kármán Line, the invisible boundary 62 miles above the
Earth’s surface, where our atmosphere ends and outer space begins.
The Starlight Headliner includes an intricate embroidery
depicting the Moon’s surface, made up of 250,000 individual stiches in
five different thread colours. It’s surrounded by 1,183 twinkling
fibre-optic ‘stars’ – 799 white and 384 blue – each placed by hand.
The leather seats feature artistic perforations for the very first
time. The artwork, formed with 75,000 tiny perforations, mimics the
patterns of clouds swirling over the continents and oceans as seen
from space.
GHOST CHAMPAGNE ROSE
Ghost Champagne Rose celebrates the commissioning client’s
signature colour, inspired by her digital persona @ChampagneRose.
Creating a single-tone colour across both exterior finish and interior
trim is exceptionally complex; materials absorb and reflect light
differently, and the eye perceives slight variations if exactly the
same colour is applied to all surfaces. The Bespoke Collective
therefore developed numerous formulations of the ‘Champagne Rose’ hue,
each subtly adjusted according to each material’s specific surface
characteristics – a true technical and artistic tour de force.
MANCHESTER GHOST
This
one-of-one Ghost celebrates Manchester’s pivotal
historical connection with the marque. It was in the city’s Midland
Hotel on 4 May 1904 that Charles Rolls and Henry Royce first met and
agreed to build ‘the best car in the world’.
The illuminated fascia features 10,000 laser-etched dots
depicting an aerial view of Manchester, with the largest dot showing
the location of the Midland Hotel.
The design also includes the Manchester Bee – the city’s emblem
for over 150 years, symbolising hard work and collective endeavour. It
appears as a coachline motif and delicate embroidery on the front and
rear seat inserts.
GHOST AMBER ROADS
This magnificent collection, comprising just 12 examples, is
inspired by amber, known as the ‘Gold of the North’ and traded along
routes known as ‘Amber Roads’ for over 3,500 years. These historic
trade routes are depicted in the Bespoke Starlight Headliner and
illuminated fascia panel.
The two-tone exterior finish and interior palette capture
amber’s warm, lustrous character. A piece of polished amber is set
into the central rotary dial to add an extra tactile dimension.
BLACK BADGE WRAITH BLACK ARROW PRIVATE COLLECTION
Created to mark the end of production of Wraith, this
Private Collection includes the final 12 examples of
the last-ever Rolls-Royce V12 coupé.
The design celebrates the land speed record set by Captain
George Eyston on 16 September 1938 on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.
The Bespoke Starlight Headliner’s 2,117 fibre-optic ‘stars’ depict the
Milky Way and the constellations precisely as they would have appeared
there that night. The complex design on coach doors, comprising over
320 lasered marquetry pieces, mimics the cracked, irregular surface of
the Salt Flats.
Unique fascia artwork depicting Wraith’s V12 engine, engraved on
a single sheet of black-coated aluminium to reveal the gleaming metal
beneath, commemorates the legacy of this Rolls-Royce icon.
'THE PEARL CULLINAN'
Commissioned for the owner by his family to mark a significant
birthday, this
magnificent Cullinan reflects the client’s passion for pearls
and includes some of the most elaborate use of mother-of-pearl ever
seen in a Rolls-Royce motor car.
The exterior finish captures the colours of the most prized
pearl in the owner’s collection. The Picnic Tables feature a
spectacular circular pattern made from 1,351 separate pieces of
mother-of-pearl, each individually selected and inlaid by hand. The
fascia motif illustrates the Arabic symbol for ‘father’ inlaid in
stainless steel. The Bespoke Starlight Headliner shows the sky as it
appeared at the owner’s birthplace on the night he was born.
PHANTOM CINQUE TERRE
This
one-of-one Phantom celebrates the unique landscape
and viticultural heritage of Italy’s Cinque Terre region. The Gallery
artwork represents an imagined amalgamation of elements from the five
Ligurian cliffside villages, sketched digitally, then airbrushed by hand.
The Bespoke Starlight Headliner features a map of Italy,
embroidered in 14,338 individual stitches, with five prominent ‘stars’
marking the locations of the villages.
The rear doors are adorned with a delicate grape-branch
embroidery, each comprising 9,215 stitches and using two different
techniques to create lustre and texture. The grapes motif also appears
as an intricate plated gold and stainless steel inlay on the rear
picnic tables, as well as the coachline motif.
BLACK BADGE CULLINAN LUCID NIGHTS
These three striking commissions, created exclusively for Korea,
are inspired by the scenery, atmosphere and dynamism of Seoul
Metropolitan City at night. Bold exterior colourways, reminiscent of
the neon-lit streets of Seoul, include the daring Lime Green, luscious
Indy Red and vibrant Tucana Purple.