The 446 Diamonds Planted In This Rolls-Royce Are Not Its Craziest Feature
The gems aren't the most outrageous feature of the custom car, dubbed the Celestial Phantom.
That honor goes to the Starlight Headliner, the arrangement of more than 1,000 fiber optic lights in the roof of the car that emulates driving under a night sky.
In most Rolls-Royces with that option, the lights are arranged by hand, more or less at random. In the Dubai Celestial Phantom, when you look up, you'll see the sky exactly as it was on January 1, 2003 in Goodwood, where the brand is based.
That's the night Rolls-Royce delivered the first Phantom to its owner. To get the constellations right, it worked with a local planetarium.
I got to check out the new Wraith this week, complete with the Starlight Headliner, and was more impressed by the look of the "stars" than I thought I would be. Especially at night, it's a nice feature.
The Celestial Phantom's nearly 500 diamonds were stuck in the rear-privacy divider, door cappings, and center console lid. Diamonds cannot be included in the steering wheel, Alex Innes, a designer at Rolls-Royce who works on bespoke projects, said in an interview, due to safety regulations.
Cars like this one, which are not made for specific customers, are often purchased by collectors, Innes said.
Here's a look at the Goodwood sky in 2003:
And some of the 446 diamonds:
