Two ‘gold’ Rolls-Royce Phantoms are set to join a fleet of 30 Phantoms soon to operate at Chinese billionaire Stephen Hung’s The 13 ultraluxury hotel development in Macau, southern China.
The 13’s fleet of Phantoms, valued at R236-million when placed in 2014, represents the single largest order in Rolls-Royce history.
The cost of building The 13 hotel is estimated at R16.8-billion.
The two gold-infused vehicles in the Phantom fleet will stand out from the rest of the fleet – painted ‘Stephen Red’ – through the inclusion of 24 ct gold on both the exterior and interior.
At the time of commissioning, these two vehicles were the most expensive Rolls-Royce Phantoms ever built.
The exterior finish, enhanced with fine particles of 24 ct gold, ensures the pair of Phantoms has “the most expensive and meticulously engineered paint the marque has ever produced”, says Rolls-Royce.
The Surface Finish Centre at the Rolls-Royce Global Centre of Excellence, in Goodwood, installed new and specialist equipment to ensure no contamination occurred during the painting of the two motor cars.
The golden finish used 250% more paint than for other Phantoms, resulting in ten layers of paint, one of which consisted of a 40-µm-deep layer of gold, combined with glass and aluminium “to provide an alluring shimmer”.
The finish required eight attempts to mix the perfect colour, says Rolls-Royce material scientist Nick Geehan.
An 24 ct gold-plated Spirit of Ecstasy, the figurine which guides every Rolls-Royce, sits atop a gold-coloured Pantheon grille and hallmarked Rolls-Royce badge, made using 97.1 g of 18 ct gold, before being plated in 24 ct gold to match the interior gold highlights.
Vitreous enamel forms the signature RR emblem and is surrounded by 336 brilliant-cut diamonds.
A golden twin coachline is hand-painted by Mark Court, Rolls-Royce’s resident expert coachline painter, using a fine squirrel hair paintbrush.
Within the coach doors, Rolls-Royce umbrellas, on hand to protect occupants from rain or the paparazzi, feataure a gold handle and golden trim to match the colour themes of the hotel.
Gold tread plates engraved with ‘PHANTOM Specially Commissioned by Stephen Hung’ remind occupants of the origin of the vehicles.
Inside the vehicles, the roofs depict the Macau constellation on the night of The 13’s ground- breaking.
Gold thread is handwoven into the star-scape to identify the constellation. This feature is paired with a gold plaque, engraved with the date and location of the groundbreaking.
Drawing on skills from artisans at the home of Rolls-Royce who trained in saddlery, the seats are covered in handwoven black and white leather panels, with a new gold-coloured pearl-effect leather created to edge the seats.