Rolls-Royce confirmed last week that its all-new high-bodied car would be named Cullinan. So the working title has been made to remain forever. But is it a coincidence, considered choice or an act of destiny itself?
Take a look at this interesting bit. The first Rolls-Royce car was unveiled in the December of 1904. Rolls-Royce Limited was established in the March of 1906. In the meanwhile, the Cullinan was unearthed in 1905. Like a name one is born with, a talisman that is unearthed for a superhero at a destined moment…
It was three years ago that Rolls-Royce announced that it would create an all-new, high-bodied car that would redefine luxury travel by making it effortless, everywhere. For Rolls-Royce, it is mould-breaking to say the least. Now, we have stepped into the final stretch of anticipation, as Rolls-Royce has sent out the name of its new motor-car as a harbinger.
“The name Cullinan has been hiding in plain sight since we revealed it as the project name some years ago,” comments Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce. “It is the most fitting name for our extraordinary new product. Cullinan is a motor-car of such clarity of purpose, such flawless quality and preciousness, and such presence that it recalibrates the scale and possibility of true luxury. Just like the Cullinan Diamond, the largest flawless diamond ever found, it emerges when it is perfect and exists above all others.” Words befitting the Rolls-Royce and none else!
The largest diamond ever discovered, the 3,106-carat Cullinan came from a mine deep in South Africa’s Magaliesberg Mountains in 1905. It gave rise to nine polished precious stones, of which the two largest securely adorns the British imperial crown and the Sovereign’s sceptre with cross. As royally English ‘Cullinan’ would get before being the identification of another British icon and royal carriage. Incidentally, as with many diamonds, Cullinan has an interesting story about its transfer to England as a birthday gift from the Transvaal government to King Edward VII.
Given the Cullinan’s stature and reputation, the treasure was ceremoniously placed in the ship’s Captain’s safe and was escorted all along by specially assigned detectives on a passenger steamboat bound for Britain. The twist in the tale is that it was all a ruse – the police, the safe and even the diamond aboard. It seems the world poured over a resin replica, whilst the real Cullinan was simply sent to London by registered post.
Drawing a meaningful parallel, the Rolls-Royce Cullinan has undertaken a journey from the searing deserts of Africa and the Middle East to the freezing snows of the Arctic Circle; from the grassy glens of the Scottish Highlands to the towering canyons of North America – the House of Rolls-Royce have strived to eliminate any flaw and make it effortless, everywhere.
Therefore, beyond the obvious connotations of precious luxury, the name is also suggestive of the processes that created the diamond over many millennia. ‘Cullinan’ name speaks of “endurance and absolute solidity in the face of the greatest pressures; it tells of rarity and preciousness and it alludes to the pioneering, adventurous spirit of The Hon. Charles Rolls and the engineering innovation of Sir Henry Royce”, elaborated Müller-Ötvös.
While the diamond is in its state of brilliant repose, The Rolls-Royce Cullinan has only started its journey of legends.
