Shropshire Star

Rolls-Royce names luxury SUV Cullinan after the largest flawless diamond

British luxury car firm has named its SUV after a 3106-carat diamond that’s used in the British Imperial Crown

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Rolls-Royce has confirmed that its luxury SUV will be called Cullinan after the largest flawless diamond ever found.

Announced three years ago, the SUV – which the British firm refers to as a ‘high-sided vehicle’ – has been been using the codename Project Cullinan, but Rolls-Royce bosses had not previously decided if it would keep the name into production.

The name comes from the Cullinan Diamond, which was extracted from the Magaliesberg Mountains in South Africa in 1905. At 3,106 carats, it is the largest diamond ever discovered – it was split into nine stones, one of which is in the British Imperial Crown and another is in the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross.

(Rolls-Royce)
(Rolls-Royce)

Torsten Müller-Ötvös, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, said that the Cullinan name had been “hiding in plain sight” since being used as the project’s codename, and described it as “perfect and brilliant”.

He said: “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.

(Rolls-Royce)
(Rolls-Royce)

“We were inspired by the epic processes, over many millennia, which went into the creation of the Cullinan Diamond. The name embodies the many facets of our new motor car’s promise.

“It 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; and, of course, it speaks of absolute luxury, wherever you venture in the world.”

The Cullinan will be the second Rolls-Royce to sit on the brand’s new aluminium platform after the new Phantom. The Goodwood-based company hasn’t revealed any engine details, but it’s expected to also share that car’s 6.8-litre V12.

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