A one-off Phantom Extended commission uses abalone shell and mother-of-pearl to turn the hummingbird’s iridescence into a new form of Rolls-Royce marquetry.
Rolls-Royce has turned one of nature's most fragile materials into the centrepiece of a one-off Phantom Extended commission. Created through Private Office Dubai as a tribute to the client's wife, Phantom Hummingbird uses abalone shell and mother-of-pearl to recreate the iridescence of the bird's feathers inside the car.
Nine months to make shell behave like veneer
The challenge was technical as much as decorative because abalone is unusually fine and brittle. Rolls-Royce says the marquetry process took more than nine months to develop and required six iterations before craftspeople found a method that could deliver the finish and durability expected inside a Phantom.
Fifty-three pieces form each hummingbird
Each hummingbird on the rear Picnic Tables is assembled from 53 individual pieces of abalone shell and mother-of-pearl, including 18 pieces in the wings alone. A separate botanical composition on the Rear Waterfall panel uses 84 pieces, extending the same natural theme between the rear seats.
Precision finishes what technology starts
Every shell element is laser-cut slightly oversize and then hand-filed to its final shape so neighbouring pieces can meet without a visible seam. The three completed panels required a further 45 hours of finishing, showing how the commission sits somewhere between automotive craft, jewellery work and decorative art.
A private commission designed to become an heirloom
The car's Ash Burr veneer, Silver Birch details, Creme Light leather and Wildberry-over-White Sands exterior support the shell work rather than compete with it. For SYG readers, the appeal is familiar: the most exclusive object is not simply the most expensive one, but the one in which the owner has commissioned materials, techniques and symbolism that cannot be duplicated off the shelf.
Source
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars