More than a decade ago, I went to an archery range with my buddy Jacob so he could shoot targets with his compound bow. When he started talking about all the upgrades he could make to it, I had an epiphany: any interest or hobby can be as expensive as you want it to be. For example, many people are fascinated by outer space. Some watch YouTube videos about it. Others buy fancy telescopes. One family commissioned the one-off Rolls-Royce Cullinan Cosmos.
Working with Rolls-Royce’s Private Office Dubai, the clients created a special Cullinan inspired by their love of the stars and solar system—a passion they share with their four-year-old son. The exterior is finished in Arabescato Pearl, a color which Rolls-Royce says recalls “the soft lustre of moonlight across a midnight sky.” Dual hand-painted Charles Blue pinstripes add subtle contrast while the illuminated Spirit of Ecstasy serves as a sort of North Star at night.
All Rolls-Royce interiors are quiet and serene, but the Cullinan Cosmos’s cabin was designed with the stillness of space in mind. The seats are covered in the soft colors of Charles Blue and Grace White leather, and accented with Grace White stitching and piping. The high-gloss Piano White trim does more than coordinate with the color scheme—it also resembles the finish applied to satellites. A custom-made Star Cluster design was painted by hand on the passenger side of the dashboard and embroidered onto the door panels and headrests.
Fittingly, the Cullinan Cosmos’s most impressive feature is up above. For several years, Rolls-Royce has been producing vehicles with its distinctive Starlight Headliner, which uses small embedded lights to mimic the nighttime sky. The Cullinan Cosmos takes that craftsmanship into the stratosphere because it’s the first one painted by hand.
One of the automaker’s in-house artisans spent over 160 hours and laid down 20-plus layers of acrylic paint with a variety of brushes to recreate the stars and cosmic mist of the Milky Way. Once the paint was dry and sealed, the perforations for the fiber-optic lighting were made—by hand, of course.
The price for this level of customization and artistry? Rolls-Royce hasn’t said, but we’re willing to guess that it’s out of this world.
