Bentley’s personal commissioning division, Mulliner, has introduced a new finish on a classic wood veneer that celebrates the natural, authentic beauty of walnut. Open-pore Walnut is sourced from a very special tree type that combines European Walnut and American Walnut. A handcrafted finish, completed at Bentley headquarters in Crewe, England, enhances the large pore structure to reveal the intense dark colouring of the wood.
The specially grown trees are mainly planted in California, with Bentley’s wood experts visiting regularly to ensure that only the finest quality walnut veneer is selected. This is carefully cut from the textured section of the tree burl, which is only found between the outer layer of sap and the inner core.
The open-pore Walnut veneer is then painted with just three, ultra-thin layers of lacquer, together totalling only 0.1 mm in thickness. By comparison, Bentley’s High Gloss lacquer coating is 0.5 mm thick and has a glossy, smooth finish.
Each layer is applied by hand and sanded between applications, ensuring the lacquer sticks to the natural grooves of the wood. The resulting finish is wax-like and perfectly highlights the authentic, natural colour and texture of the walnut.
This technique ensures you can actually feel the texture of the wood. The variation in colour and grain of different cuts of open-pore Walnut mean that each veneer is also slightly different.
This new finish is available to specify in the Flying Spur, Bentayga and Mulsanne.
