High-end luxury car companies like to diversify. Mercedes-Maybach sells branded horse saddles, Porsche builds custom kitchens, Bugatti will give you a $300,000 pool table that has gyroscopic self-leveling.
Now the latest Rolls-Royce creation has been anounced, one that is simply called the "Chess Set." Its designer Nick Abrams calls it "a contemporary work of art in its own right, as well as a practical, playable game." Here's what it looks like:
The board is split into two sections which you can slide apart to access the chess pieces. Both the board support and the chess piece holders are of polished aluminum and hand-crafted. The board squares are made from a wood veneer, all taken from the same log of wood, to have a consistent grain pattern. The black squares have a diagonal grain, the white squares are smooth. This is what the set looks like with the pieces on it:
The chess set is customizable, and you can order one to match your car. There are four different veneer combinations, Rolls-Royce tells us: you can get high-gloss Blackwood with Ceramic White or Macassar Ebony with Royal Walnut, or if you want an open-pore finish there's Smoked Eucalyptus with Paldao or Obsidian Ayous with Blackwood. Thirteen different leather colors are offered: Arctic White, Black, Cashmere Grey, Charles Blue, Forge Yellow, Havana, Iceland Moss, Lime Green, Mandarin, Peony Pink, Phoenix Red, Sciavaro Grey and Tailored Purple.
Nick Abrams, Transportation and Product Designer, who designed the Rolls-Royce chess set. In the following video he tells us about his creation:
This truly extravagant chess set is available for commission at Rolls-Royce dealerships and Private Office boutiques. Unfortunately, it does not seem to have a price tag yet. In any case, that may not fit in the width of our columns.
So a request: all readers who decide to purchase a Rolls-Royce Chess Set should please inform us in the feedback section below how much it cost them. And very important: did it come with additional queens for possible promotions?
