Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has presented ‘The Pearl Cullinan’ – a one-of-one bespoke motor car, and a first project to be revealed by the Private Office Dubai, which works with local dealer partners across the Middle East and Africa region.
The Pearl Cullinan was commissioned in early 2022 by a longstanding Rolls-Royce client, to mark his father’s 90th birthday. César Habib, regional director, Middle East and Africa, and bespoke lead designer Michelle Lusby were originally introduced to the father with the purpose of understanding his passions and life story; these meetings provided valuable insights that informed the design direction for the commission.
The interior design features two different leather colors. The front seats – where the father prefers to travel as a passenger – are finished in his favorite cashmere grey. In reference to the family’s heritage, the rear seats are trimmed in ardent red, which takes inspiration from the color of the material on which pearls are presented to customers to best highlight their subtle natural color variations. Similarly, the burr walnut veneer echoes the wooden presentation boxes in which pearls are traditionally handed over to customers upon purchase.
Bespoke embroidery detailing includes ‘RR’ monograms in rose gold thread on the headrests, and rear seat inserts in grace white, inspired by the symmetrical growth patterns of an oyster shell and angled at the same precise 55° as the veneer.
The Pearl Cullinan features one of the most extensive uses of mother-of-pearl ever seen in a Rolls-Royce motor car, as seen in the detailed design of the table trays, fitted to the rear of the front passenger seats. The upper surface features an intricate, circular pattern inspired by traditional Arabic design that draws the eye inwards to a central point. Each tabletop is then inlaid with 1,351 separate pieces of mother-of-pearl, every one individually selected and placed by hand in the surrounding burr walnut marquetry and sealed with clear lacquer.
The burr walnut fascia incorporates a mother-of-pearl inlay inspired by traditional Middle Eastern art. At its center is the Arabic word for ‘father’, inlaid in stainless steel. In a first for Rolls-Royce, the bespoke dashboard clock is set in a mother-of-pearl surround; the dial and hands are in rose gold. The center rotary dial is also finished with mother-of-pearl, giving it a “tactile, jewel-like quality”.
Above the occupants, a starlight headliner shows the sky as it appeared on the night at the place where the commissioning client’s father was born.
Habib said, “As the motor car is a birthday gift to the father of a longstanding patron, it adds a very special dimension to the project: it has been a privilege to create such a magnificent motor car to mark this auspicious occasion.
“‘The Pearl Cullinan’ not only has a deep personal meaning to both father and son, it also commemorates the great heritage story of the family. At Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, highly bespoke commissions have always been crafted with deep emotional connections in mind and each motor car has its own tale.”
