For the diamond-coated Rolls-Royce Celestial, the stars are far from the limit

By Peter Braun November 6, 2013

With all the SEMA news, you might have forgotten about the Dubai Motor Show.

Rolls-Royce sure hasn’t. And anyone who sees its latest ode to opulence isn’t likely to either.

It’s called the Celestial Phantom and it features an interior illuminated to resemble the night sky with no less than 446 diamonds set into the doors, privacy divider, and center console.

So what’s with all the bling? Rolls-Royce is honoring the 10^th anniversary of the first Phantom delivery, and they wanted to do something a bit special. Apparently special in Roller speak means a kings ransom in diamonds.

But that’s not all; the Celestial gets its name from the distinctive night sky headliner. The thousands of fiber optic lights hand-woven into the roof are arranged to perfectly mirror the stars that shown on midnight January 1^st 2003 – the day the first lucky customer took delivery of their Phantom.

However, the Rolls-Royce factory is located in Sussex so some gray wool evoking winter overcast would have been more appropriate.

Given that this is a Roller, a mere pound of diamonds and a planetarium headliner would be a bit passé. So, to satisfy the truly discerning customer, Rolls-Royce has included a custom set of crystal and china. Now that’s more like it!

Now monarchs from the Queen of England to the King of Saudi Arabia can host high tea without ever leaving the comfort of their limos.

Speaking of Saudi Royalty, the Dubai Motor Show is the perfect place for this reveal. Rolls-Royce brass know that so many of their cars are sold in The Kingdom and the Emirates that Rolls-Royce employee’s paychecks should probably be written in Arabic.

Or to put it another way: the very British-sounding CEO Torsten Muller-Otvos says, “The Middle East is the largest market for Bespoke in the world and in celebration of this we sought to create something truly special for the Dubai International Motor Show.”

If this is the sort of crazy opulence you get when catering to the Middle Eastern luxury market, then bring it on!

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Peter is a freelance contributor to Digital Trends and almost a lawyer. He has loved thinking, writing and talking about cars…

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