{"id":3346,"date":"2026-02-15T10:00:40","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T15:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/?p=3346"},"modified":"2026-03-03T07:26:52","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T12:26:52","slug":"rolls-royce-phantom-arabesque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/rolls-royce-phantom-arabesque\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolls-Royce debuts full-hood laser etching on the Phantom Arabesque, using a new process inspired by ‘Mashrabiya’ patterns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rolls-Royce has become the first company to fully laser etch a vehicle\u2019s hood. The end product, which draws inspiration from Middle-Eastern architecture, now adorns the \u201cPhantom Arabesque.”<\/p>\n

The exact process used to create the “Mashrabiya\u201d pattern took five years to develop, and takes inspiration from \u201cthe Italian sgraffito technique,\u201d which alters the color of a surface by removing its top layers. To achieve the effect, the hood is first painted a dark color, then multiple layers of clear coat are applied. Finally, a lighter color is applied on top and the laser goes to work.<\/p>\n

With this being Rolls-Royce, it does have to be hand-finished. So someone from Goodwood, who is an expert in some particular craft or other, takes the time to hand-sand the bonnet until it is absolutely perfect. Because it\u2019s a Rolls-Royce. So obviously, the clientele and the amount of money involved means nothing can be less than perfect.<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce Exterior Surface Centre\u2019s General Manager Tobias Sicheneder stated: “Laser engraving allows us to create a surface that is both technically precise and visually alive. Developing this patented process required years of experimentation by the entire team. Phantom Arabesque is the first expression of a technique that opens entirely new creative possibilities for future clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technically, another company has \u201claser etched\u201d a vehicle\u2019s hood. Back in 2024, Ferrari unveiled a one-off Roma Spider, which had laser etching on a number of panels including a compass shaped design in the center of the hood. However, Rolls-Royce is the first company to apply the expensive and complex process across an entire<\/em> bonnet.<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce has a long history of \u201cfirsts\u201d<\/h3>\n
\"The
Source: Rolls-Royce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While you could argue that Ferrari did beat Rolls-Royce to the punch when it comes to laser etching, there are plenty of other examples where Rolls-Royce did produce something innovative or unique into one of its vehicles. Which isn\u2019t really a surprise as the ultra-high end manufacturer is in the business of standing out.<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce did not invent satellite navigation, but it did put a unique spin on it with \u201cSatellite Aided Transmission\u201d (SAT). SAT first cropped up in the 2013 Rolls-Royce Wraith, and was essentially a way to make the automatic gearbox far more effective. It used the GPS system to feed details on the road ahead to the vehicle. The Wraith would then know when it was approaching a curve, traffic circle, or highway on-ramp and shift gear appropriately. Similar systems have since cropped up in Audi\u2019s and Mercedes\u2019 vehicles<\/a>, and it has a lot of utility in the trucking industry. Especially when it comes to adjusting for gradients.<\/p>\n

The \u201cfloating wheel center caps\u201d were also a Rolls-Royce innovation and are still closely associated with the brand. The caps, which make sure the iconic \u201cRR\u201d in the center of the wheel is always the correct way up, first appeared on the Phantom VII in 2003. It\u2019s one of the Rolls-Royce innovations that parent company BMW has also adopted, with the caps being an optional extra on some of the Bavarian manufacturer\u2019s luxury vehicles. Rolls-Royce\u2019s British rival Bentley uses similar caps on their vehicles.<\/p>\n

Nothing says you\u2019ve produced something exceptional like your closest rival copying your homework.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s impossible to do a list like this without mentioning the \u201cStarlight Headliner,\u201d which is another Rolls-Royce feature Bentley subsequently adopted. The Starlight Headliner, which Rolls-Royce first rolled out in 2006, involves the careful placement of fiber optics across the vehicle\u2019s interior roof liner. The end result is something that mimics a starry sky, and that would be nice enough on its own. But Rolls-Royce being Rolls-Royce, things are taken a little further.<\/p>\n

If you stare at the headliner for a little while, you\u2019ll notice little \u201cshooting stars\u201d flying across the headliner. Combine it with a glass of champagne or scotch from the decanter or fridge you\u2019ve obviously opted to have added to the middle of the rear seat and you\u2019re in for a pleasant time.<\/p>\n

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Rolls-Royce innovations, but if we start digging through all of the little one-offs that have cropped up in the untold number of unique vehicles the company has created over the last 119-years, we\u2019ll be here all day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rolls-Royce has become the first company to fully laser etch a vehicle\u2019s hood. The end product, which draws inspiration from … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3350,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-cars","category-performance-and-luxury","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}