Rolls-Royce looks back on an incredible year of bespoke projects.
Rolls-Royce is known for representing the pinnacle of automotive luxury, and that means more than just a quiet, smooth ride and plush amenities. Rolls-Royce builds it vehicles with painstaking effort to earn its global reputation for artisan craftsmanship, attention to detail, creative expression, and uncompromising artistry.
The greatest example of Rolls-Royces abilities on all fronts come from its Bespoke division, a branch of Rolls-Royce dedicated to fulfilling client wishes and conceptualizing some of the most unique, exclusive, rare, and beautiful creations in the automotive world. This past year has been one of the most successful and busy years for Rolls-Royce Bespoke, and to celebrate it, Rolls-Royce looks back on the commissions created in 2023, which include some of the most involved, technically challenging, ambitious, and expensive ones it’s done yet.
The Rose Blossom Phantom features embroidery throughout inspired by the flower gardens in Rolls-Royce’s Goodwood headquarters, and the flowers in its Starlight headliner took over 200 hours to complete.
The Phantom Syntopia, designed and created in collaboration with famed couture designer Iris Van Herpen, was the most technically complex Bespoke project Rolls-Royce has ever undertaken. With 162 glass organza “petals,” among other stunning features, the Starlight headliner was the result of near 700 hours of work.
Inspired by the captivating phenomenon of the solar eclipse, the Rolls-Royce Black Badge Ghost Ékleipsis Private Collection has a Starlight headliner that uses over 1,000 “stars” to depict a solar eclipse, with the animation lasting 7 minutes and 31 seconds.
The Black Badge Cullinan Blue Shadow Private Collection takes inspiration from the invisible line that separates the Earth’s atmosphere from outer space 62 miles above ground, the Kármán Line. Its embroidered Starlight Headliner, depicting the Moon’s surface, uses 250,000 stitches and 1,183 stars, and has artistic perforations in the seats with 75,000 tiny holes depicting clouds viewed from above the Earth.
The Ghost Champagne Rose was commissioned by online personality @ChampagneRose, and it extensively uses a signature, bespoke ‘Champagne Rose’ color throughout, matching it between both the exterior and the interior of the sedan.
Inspired by its eponymous English city, the Manchester Ghost celebrates Rolls-Royce’s founding at the Midland Hotel in 1904 by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. 10,000 dots in the fascia depict the city from an aerial view.
The Ghost Amber Roads, limited to a collection of just 12 examples, celebrates the ancient history, trade, and reverence for amber. The Bespoke Starlight Headliner shows the ancient trade routes for the elusive material, and a polished piece of amber sits in the central rotary dial.
The final 12 examples of the Wraith were all part of the Black Badge Wraith Black Arrow Private Collection, which celebrates Captain George Eyston’s Bonneville Salt Flats land speed record set in 1938. The Starlight Headliner shows what the sky would have looked like that very night, and the car’s iconic V12 engine is depicted in the fascia.
The Pearl Cullinan was commissioned by a family to commemorate a significant birthday, with the most mother-of-pearl a Rolls-Royce has ever seen. The Starlight Headliner shows the night sky in the birthplace of the owner on the night he was born.
The Phantom Cinque Terre is named after the region in Italy that inspired it, which is full of color, vibrance, culture, and Mediterranean charm. 14,338 stitches in the headliner form a map of Italy, while 9,125 stitches make up a grape branch embroidery on the door panels.
Made exclusively for Korea, the Black Badge Cullinan Lucid Nights collection consists of 3 cars with vivid, brightly-colored configurations that reflect the vibrancy, culture, and pace of nighttime Seoul.
With a year full of diverse, beautiful, and artistic commissions, Rolls-Royce Bespoke used 2023 to continue proving its status as the ultimate representation of automotive luxury, artistry, craftsmanship, and design.
Image Source: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars