Rolls-Royce recently showed off a special-edition Phantom with over a million stitches. It was an unparalleled display of master craftsmanship and a joy to behold. Bentley's Mulliner custom shop looked at it and said, "Hold my Staffordshire bone china cup of tea," and went to work.
Quilted leather with diamond stitching is a comfortable and eye-catching design, but Bentley has gone one further and is stitching a diamond within the diamond. Each piece of the pattern requires 712 stitches and a master craftsman to complete using specialized equipment that had to be built for the task, and Bentley customers can't get enough of it.
Bentley is reporting that its Diamond-in-Diamond Quilting is facing a surge of popularity. According to the British luxury carmaker, it is now ordered by three-quarters of customers for the interiors of the new Bentley Continental GT (winner of our 2019 Best Interior award) and Continental GT Convertible models. Its become so successful Bentley is now offering an interpretation of the quilting pattern for the Flying Spur through the Mulliner Driving Specification program. On the models its available for, it covers all the seats, door casings, and the rear quarters. What amazes us is that something so over the top and intricate also looks so refined and elegant.
The pattern for the Flying Spur is described by Bentley as an "elegant series of ever-lengthening diamonds tumbling down the seat, in precise yet seemingly random formation." Bentley's master craftsmen use the same specially commissioned embroidery machine that was developed and built especially for creating the complex Diamond-in-Diamond Quilting pattern.
The workers made the initial prototype pattern and attempted to individually tie off every single diamond by hand using a standard sewing machine. However, it proved to be such a labor-intensive and time-consuming process that it was unfeasible, and that was just the first design hurdle. We're not sure how much it costs yet, but Bentley says the pattern is for the "discerning customer," which basically means if you have to ask, you can't afford it.