Behold the Rolls-Royce Phantom Serenity, a one-off creation by the British marquee that takes luxury customization to whole new level. Following last month’s teaser, Rolls Royce finally pulled the wraps off the its most opulent bespoke model. Developed by the firm’s bespoke design team, the Serenity is based on the Phantom Series II and draws inspiration from oriental themes as well as from “opulent” Rolls Royce models from the early 20th century. Rolls Royce looked back at the era of royal, silk-lined horse-drawn carriages that carried Kings and Emperors to create the uber-luxury theme of the car.
Rolls-Royce describes the Phantom Serenity as a celebration of “the historical role played by silk as a symbol of regal and imperial power.” The oriental theme is inspired by the “amazing interiors of the elite Rolls-Royce’s of the early 1900s”, according to director of design Giles Taylor. The changes on the exterior might be limited to the special paint-job, however, Rolls Royce says that the ‘Bespoke Mother of Pearl’ color of the exterior is the most expensive one-off paint ever developed in the history of the brand, with the polishing alone taking 12 hours by hand.
Most of the changes can be found on the inside where the two-tone coachline has a blossom motif applied by using a brush made from squirrel hair. Woven silk sourced from Suzhou, China was inserted throughout the cabin and in some areas crimson blossoms were hand painted directly onto the silk, requiring a whopping 600 hours of work for each panel. In addition to the silk upholstery, the Phantom’s interior features rare smoked cherrywood, mother of pearl, bamboo cross-banding and arctic white leather. The luggage compartment of Serenity is lined in Arctic White leather with an Arctic White carpet, while two parasols featuring the Serenity motif are held by Bespoke leather loops incorporated into the boot lid.
One-off commissions are making up an increasingly significant part of Rolls-Royce’s business, with 85% of its cars now commissioned with some level of bespoke content. “Celebrating the historical role played by silk as a symbol of ultimate elegance, the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Bespoke Design team has created a magnificent one-off Phantom which will set a new benchmark for luxury individualization in the motor industry, and reaffirm that Bespoke is Rolls-Royce,” said the company’s chief executive, Torsten Müller-Ötvös. The one-off Rolls Royce Phantom Serenity will make its debut today at the Geneva Motor Show.
