Meet the one-of-one Phantom Arabesque, commissioned through the Private Office Dubai of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. It’s based on the long-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantom Extended, which is already about the size of a respectable marina. And now it’s been turned into a rolling piece of Middle Eastern geometry.

The inspiration? Mashrabiya — those intricate wooden lattice screens you see on traditional houses and palaces across the Middle East. They provide privacy, airflow, and a rather elegant way of saying, “Yes, I can see you. No, you can’t see me.” Very on-brand for a Phantom owner, then.

But here’s where it gets properly nerdy.

For the first time ever, Rolls-Royce has laser-engraved the bonnet. Not stuck something on it. Not painted a pattern over it. Actually engraved it into the paint. This took five years. Five. Years. That’s longer than most hot hatch lifecycles.

They paint the bonnet dark, bury it under layers of clear coat, apply a lighter top layer, and then fire a laser into it to a depth of 145–190 microns. That reveals the darker shade beneath, creating a mashrabiya pattern you can see and feel. It’s inspired by Italian sgraffito, which is art-speak for “carefully scratching things until they look fabulous.”

The result? A surface that shimmers as light moves across it. It’s less “car bonnet” and more “high-end architectural installation that just happens to do 155mph in total silence.”

The exterior is finished in Diamond Black with Silver upper sections, separated by a single coachline featuring a tiny mashrabiya motif. There’s the illuminated Pantheon grille, dark chrome trim, an uplit Spirit of Ecstasy, and 22-inch wheels polished to within an inch of their lives. In other words: subtle. If subtlety were 5.7 metres long.

Inside, the dashboard Gallery is filled with intricate marquetry in Blackwood and Black Bolivar, echoing the lattice theme.

Selby Grey and Black leather keep things cool and restrained, while embroidered mashrabiya motifs appear on the headrests. Even the treadplates reference the bonnet engraving, just in case you forgot you’re stepping into a rolling design thesis.

And that’s the thing about this Phantom. It isn’t just expensive. It’s obsessive. It takes a centuries-old architectural idea about privacy, light and airflow and translates it into paint depth measurements measured in microns.