• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Forum
  • Design Studio
  • Upholstery Jobs
  • Newsletter
  • Sponsors

The Hog Ring

Auto Upholstery Community

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Leather Interiors: Rolls-Royce Style

March 22, 2011 By Nadeem Muaddi

Want to sit inside something outrageous? Check out the Rolls-Royce Phantom – which I recently had the opportunity to test drive. According to the company rep who handed me the keys, the luxurious sedan features a cashmere-blend headliner and is trimmed in 15 to 18 hides of Bavarian bull (Rolls-Royce doesn’t use cow hide because female cattle are prone to getting stretch marks during pregnancy). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg…

The bulls slaughtered for the Phantom’s upholstery are raised in a region of Europe where the climate is too cold for mosquitos to live – minimizing the presence of insect bites and other blemishes. Rolls-Royce claims that by choosing bulls over cows and raising them in such a climate, their leather interiors end up being softer to the touch than any other automaker.

It sounds outrageous, but that’s exactly what Rolls-Royce is. Which is why their latest press release about the 102EX Phantom Experimental Electric – the world’s first electric ultra-luxury car – doesn’t surprise me one bit. Describing its interior leather furnishings, Rolls-Royce writes:

Its leather interior is derived from a natural vegetable tanning process christened Corinova. This gives life to the car, adding definition to the seats, floor and arm rests.

Most leather produced for automotive applications is chrome tanned. This is an important constituent that helps to stabilise animal hides and transfer collagen into leather fibres. The barrel-dyeing process used to colour Phantom interior leathers gives a rich, uniform pigmentation while maintaining the natural feel and softness.

An experimental leather, Corinova distinguishes itself by being entirely chrome free. It starts with a preparation of Glutardialehyde to prepare for tanning. Chestnut extract, sustainably sourced from Southern Europe and Tara powder from crushed fruit of the Tara bush in South America are used for drum-spun colouring. Fruits are harvested without damage to the plant and the product is finished with a combination of natural binders and high tech polymers.

The process lends itself only to certain earthy colours – in the case of Phantom EE a chestnut colour for seat covers and Quebracho Brown for other areas such as the floor and trunk lining, both of which are made of durable saddle leather.

As well as aesthetic differences, Corinova leather presents a number of practical benefits. It uses less paint finish than in standard chrome-tanned leather and creates less waste. It negates the use of petrol-refined products and with further development, it may be possible to use recycled Corinova leather in agriculture to aerate soil.

Rolls-Royce fully expects perceptions to be challenged and first impressions will no doubt focus on appearance, as features that define the life of the animal are more clearly visible in areas like seats and armrests than in production Phantom interiors.  A change from the sumptuous finish applied to Phantom leather may imply a compromise to some owners, but others may welcome distinguishing features that stretch individualisation for Rolls-Royce Phantom models ever further.

Uhhh yeah… where do you suppose I can buy a hide of that? Because I certainly can’t afford the Phantom’s $380,000 to $450,000 price tag!

Bonus: Check out this video sneak peak into Rolls-Royce’s world-famous leather shop:

Filed Under: Archive, Concepts & Designs Tagged With: Auto Trim, Auto Upholstery, Car Interior, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Rolls-Royce Phantom

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. BIG DADDY NADS says

    May 6, 2012 at 7:18 pm

    That bull hide idea is interesting. I once heard that Italian leather is so expensive simply because it’s illegal to use barbed wire fencing in Italy. As a result, Cows are less likely to scrape/puncture their skin, and their hides have less imperfections.

    • welders glasses 14 says

      December 8, 2018 at 8:41 am

      thanks for the post

  2. EDWARD MUNDAY says

    July 30, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    RETIRED… HARD TO BELIEVE THAT A MOSQUITO BITE WOULD SHOW UP, AND YOU WOULD THINK THE COW STRETCHING DURING CALF TIME WOULD GIVE A BIGGER HYDE IF YOU GOT BOTH SIDES. IVE HERD OF HYDES BEING SPLIT BECAUSE THERE SO THICK.
    http://www.ehow.com/about_5562049_naked-leather-vs-cowhide.html
    http://www.ehow.com/how_4835223_check-leather-quality.html

  3. ConsumerismAMIRITE says

    June 23, 2020 at 4:46 pm

    Oh look, some idiotic bull peddled by some normie r3tards on reddit. Y’all enjoying this d1ck-sucking article from 9 years ago? Slurp it up you dumbasses, because drooling over dumb sh1t like this is the best you’ll ever get in your pathetic little worthless lives.

    • Leyk says

      June 23, 2020 at 5:49 pm

      Aww… did someone hurt your feelbads?

    • TriggeredMuch says

      June 23, 2020 at 5:57 pm

      Daww, the little boy is venting from his mom’s basement? Projecting is a bad look for everyone, kid.

  4. RDY says

    June 23, 2020 at 7:46 pm

    Might as well be PO’d at the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, or the Sistine Chapel, talent paid for by a surfeit of economic wages accruing to a highly unequal class willing to patronize the ‘arts’. We’ll probably never put a Rolls Royce on the same level as any of those, but only possible with the donation of a wealthy class with some modicum of taste and an excess of capital. Where am I personally on this? Jesus said, ‘the poor you’ll always have with you’ but might well have said ‘you’ll always have your elites’ because one doesn’t exist without the other.

    Regardless, mocking the article and people who read it misses the point. You’ll always have the system, but that does not mean that the system is fair or that it does not produce spectacular results. Fight for equity. I’m as angry as you are. But calling people suckers for appreciating quality is a dead end. Might as well tear down the icons and declare the end of faith altogether. Best wishes to you because we are in the same fight.

  5. Mark says

    January 16, 2021 at 9:59 pm

    I am looking for hides of leather for a rolls Royce corniche mulliner. 1984.

  6. Slope Unblocked says

    December 20, 2022 at 3:53 am

    I want to buy, how to do?

  7. Elogowanie says

    April 17, 2023 at 6:02 am

    Thanks for posting this amazing content. Nice work.!!!

  8. Candy Crush says

    June 1, 2023 at 9:15 pm

    Corinova leather presents a number of practical benefits.

Primary Sidebar

anal porno bangbros rus porno yaşlı porno konulu porno olgun porno porno izle sarışın porno bakire sex 69 porno

THR Sponsors

NC Sewing Machines
Miami Corporation - Right Rail Ad 3
  • Big Z Fabric
  • Douglass Interior Products
  • Hyde Leather
  • Keyston Bros
  • OEM+ Banner Ad - The Hog Ring
  • Albright's Supply
  • Leather Craft

THR Favorites

Top 10 Wacky Car Interiors

We auto upholsterers have seen it all - from … [more] about Top 10 Wacky Car Interiors

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Mercedes-Benz Interior Paint

Mercedes-Benz SLK: Painting Interior Plastic

I recently purchased a 1999 Mercedes-Benz SLK … [more] about Mercedes-Benz SLK: Painting Interior Plastic

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Ringbrothers

10 Questions for Ringbrothers’ Mike and Jim

Mike and Jim Ring of Ringbrothers are skilled … [more] about 10 Questions for Ringbrothers’ Mike and Jim

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Brent Parker Motor Trimming

10 Tips to Take Trimming to the Next Level

Over the last couple of years, trimmers have … [more] about 10 Tips to Take Trimming to the Next Level

Auto Upholstery - The Hog Ring - Vinyl Top Rust

The Hidden Horrors of Vinyl Top Roof Rust

"How much to slap a new vinyl top on my car?" … [more] about The Hidden Horrors of Vinyl Top Roof Rust

Nissan Answers ‘Do Not Resew’ Inquiries

Earlier this year, we reported on Nissan’s … [more] about Nissan Answers ‘Do Not Resew’ Inquiries

Categories

Footer

Recent Articles

  • Keyston Bros Drops 31 New Alcantara Colors—And They’re Anything but Basic
  • Bridge of Weir is Making Automotive Leather for Neurodivergent Passengers
  • Lippert Buys Out Chicago’s Freedman Seating Company
  • Trimmer Paul Anthony Desire Dies at 88
  • Bentley Brings Vintage Vibes to Modern Interiors with New Heritage Leather

Recent Comments

  • Edward Munday on Hidden Mouse Nest? How to Charge for the Extra Dirty Work
  • Jack on Keyston Bros. Acquires DLT Corporation
  • Brodie Smith on Aston Martin Just Introduced a New Convertible DB12
  • THE CAPTAIN on 6 Tips for Turning Callers into Customers
  • Dmei on Star Wars Seat Covers are ‘So Wizard’

Advertise With Us!

We're always looking for companies to collaborate with. Watch this short video about the benefits of sponsorship and then email us to say hi.

Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in