Rolls-Royce has unveiled a chess set. Not a concept, not a playful prototype, but a full-fledged production piece. As you’d expect from a company that paints cars with crushed diamonds and embroiders constellations into the ceiling, this is not just any chess set. It is the chess set. The kind you wouldn’t so much play with as curate.
It is, quite succinctly, called the Rolls-Royce Chess Set, which is a bit like naming your pet ' Peacock'. But the simplicity ends there.
Materials worthy of a Phantom:
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The board is made from laser-cut aluminium with veneer squares. Each veneer square is taken from the same log. Not the same forest, the same log.
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The base is finished in leather and shaped to resemble the rising ‘waft lines’ you’ll find on a Rolls-Royce bonnet because geometry is more important when you’re spending crores on strategy games.
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The whole thing unfurls in what’s described as a “smooth, single theatrical motion”, like an old Bond villain’s trapdoor or a particularly confident butler.
Inside, the centrepiece is a leather-lined holder that rises slowly, presumably to build anticipation. Nestled within are the playing pieces. These aren’t wood or plastic. They are ceramic-coated aluminium, precision-crafted, and weighted just so. Each one is said to mimic the feel of a Rolls-Royce organ stop. The result? Even your pawns feel posh.
A few key flourishes:
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Magnetised board. So, no more blaming turbulence or a heavy sigh for losing your rook.
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Hidden drawers at either end, each concealing an extra Queen. For those rare but triumphant pawn promotions.
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Front and back carry polished Spirit of Ecstasy emblems, which means even the chessboard gets to wear jewellery.
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And of course, every set can be personalised to suit your interior décor and perhaps matched to your Phantom’s upholstery.
“We were inspired to create our own Chess Set as a natural evolution of the sense of hosting and occasion that defines the Rolls-Royce experience,” says designer Nick Abrams. Which, translated, means they thought they’d build a game you could admire with your evening whisky and a complete disregard for your bank balance.
Price?
Rolls-Royce hasn’t told u, which is a bit like handing you a Fabergé egg and asking you to guess its value. If you have to ask, you probably haven’t paid enough for a pawn before.
But it’s safe to assume this is not a set that’s going to live on a coffee table in your Pune flatshare. This belongs in a lounge scented with pipe smoke, surrounded by leather-bound books and someone named Peregrine who insists on playing with the black pieces.
One imagines this is the kind of chess set where losing still feels like a win. Because really, you've got to touch the pieces.
