Rolls-Royce has revealed its latest ‘Private Commission’ Phantom, created as a special, one-off tribute to a customer’s wife.
Named the Phantom Hummingbird, the bespoke luxury saloon is intended to ‘celebrate the intricate beauty of the natural world’.
Based on a long-wheelbase Phantom Extended, the Hummingbird name was chosen to reflect the ‘joy and resilience’ of that particular bird.
The hummingbird’s shimmering feathers also inspired various details inside Phantom – notably Rolls-Royce’s first use of abalone shells.
An iridescent tribute
For the uninitiated, abalone are rare sea snails, renowned for their distinctive shells that feature iridescent elements.
Rolls-Royce has used the blue-green nacreous inner surface of abalone shells, in combination with mother-of-pearl, to replicate a hummingbird’s feathers.
Marquetry techniques were employed by expert Rolls-Royce craftspeople to apply abalone shells and mother-of-pearl to the picnic tables inside the Phantom Extended, along with the ‘Waterfall’ element between its rear seats.
Each picnic table required 53 individual pieces of abalone and mother-of-pearl to depict a flying hummingbird. The Waterfall panel’s botanical design contains 84 distinct elements.
Every piece of the abalone shell and mother-of-pearl had to be laser-cut to just 0.06mm larger than its final size, before being worked by hand to fit seamlessly with the pieces alongside it.
Inside the Phantom Hummingbird
Designing the picnic tables and rear panel required nine months and six different iterations to discover how best to handle the delicate materials.
Elements such as the hummingbird’s wings were so fine that only a human hand could achieve the precise level of detailing needed to slot within the bespoke carpentry.
Some 45 hours were spent fitting and finishing the abalone shell and mother-of-pearl elements of the Phantom Extended. Ash burr wood veneer was applied across all three panels, with silver birch from a single log used for the picnic tables.
Rolls-Royce finished the remainder of the interior in Creme Light leather, with Moccasin and Tan contrast detailing, plus Seashell carpets. The marque’s famous Starlight headlining was the finishing touch.
Fresh challenges for Rolls Royce
The exterior coachwork of the Phantom is painted in deep Wildberry, with the upper areas finished in a lighter White Sands hue.
A hand-applied coachline also runs along the flanks of the stretched Phantom, incorporating a flying hummingbird design.
Phil Fabre de la Grange, head of bespoke at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said: “The natural world has always been a rich source of inspiration for Rolls-Royce Bespoke commissions, offering extraordinary forms and colours for our designers and craftspeople to interpret.
“Our clients continually invite us to explore that inspiration in new and unexpected ways, as this remarkable Private Commission so perfectly demonstrates.
“The introduction of abalone shell into Rolls-Royce marquetry presented our designers and craftspeople with a fresh creative and technical challenge, resulting in an elegant tribute to the hummingbird’s mesmerising presence.”
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