From Powder to Bentley: Precious Metal Additive Manufacturing in Action

What happens when more than 100 years of precious metal expertise meets advanced additive manufacturing?

Cookson Industrial collaborated with Bentley Motors and its Mulliner division to manufacture solid 18-carat gold components for the ultra-exclusive Bentley Batur, demonstrating how precious metal additive manufacturing can move beyond conventional applications and into highly engineered, production-ready components.

Using precious metal powder and laser-based additive manufacturing, components were produced directly from CAD models before being meticulously finished using traditional precious metal finishing techniques. The project included key driver touchpoints such as the Charisma Dial surrounding the start/stop button and drive-mode selector, Bentley’s Organ Stop ventilation controls, and a steering-wheel insert marker. Up to 210 grams of 18ct gold could be incorporated into each Batur through these components.

The collaboration has since gone even further. Bentley's Black Rose Batur incorporated 3D-printed, hallmarked 18-carat rose gold across key interior touchpoints, described by Bentley as an automotive industry first.

More Than a Luxury Application:

The Bentley project provides a striking example of what Cookson Industrial's precious metal AM capability can achieve, but the technology extends far beyond automotive interiors.

With in-house precious metal powder production, alloy development, parameter development, additive manufacturing and finishing capabilities, we can support projects from initial material development and prototyping through to finished components and low-volume production.

Our expertise in gold, silver, platinum, palladium and specialist precious metal alloys opens opportunities for AM across aerospace, automotive, medical, electronics, space, research and other advanced engineering applications, particularly where conventional manufacturing restricts geometry, material utilisation or component performance.

Bentley asked what was possible in gold. What could precious metal additive manufacturing make possible for your application?