This Phantom’s Interior Is Made To Shimmer Like A Hummingbird

Meet the Phantom Hummingbird, a one-off Phantom Extended commissioned through Rolls-Royce Private Office Dubai as a tribute to a client's wife.

Its party trick is something completely new for Rolls-Royce: abalone shell marquetry. The naturally iridescent shell has a blue-green shimmer, making it a neat match for the colourful, light-reflecting feathers of a hummingbird.

Inside, each rear Picnic Table gets its own flying hummingbird. Each one is assembled from 53 individual pieces of abalone shell and mother-of-pearl, including 18 pieces just for the wings.

Between the rear seats, the Waterfall panel gets a botanical design made from another 84 pieces.

Getting those tiny fragments into place was no simple job. The project took more than nine months and went through six iterations before Rolls-Royce settled on a suitable technique for the delicate, brittle material.

Each piece is laser-cut slightly oversize, then filed by hand to its exact shape. The pieces are fitted so precisely that there are no visible seams.

The final three marquetry panels required 45 hours of work.

The nature theme continues elsewhere, with Ash Burr and Silver Birch veneers, Creme Light leather, Seashell carpets and a Starlight Headliner.

Outside, the Phantom gets Wildberry and White Sands two-tone paint, plus a hand-painted hummingbird stretching along its coachline.

“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.” Phil Fabre de la Grange, Head of Bespoke, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

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