Steinway Crown Jewel Collection The
Steinway & Sons pianos have long been acclaimed for their striking beauty, amazing sound quality and investment value. The pianos in Steinway’s Crown Jewel collection are encased in rare, exotic wood veneers which give them a truly extraordinary beauty.
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nly the finest, most magnificent woods are used in Steinway & Son’s Crown Jewel collection. These handcrafted works of art are shrouded in rare, exotic wood veneers sourced from around the world, including species such as Macassar Ebony (Diospyros celebica), Kewazinga Bubinga (Guibourtia spp.), Santos Rosewood (Machaerium spp.), East Indian Rosewood (Dalbergia latifolia), African Pommelé and Figured Sapele (Entandrophragma cylindricum). Creating the Crown Jewel piano is a painstaking process that requires up to seven months and involves many skilled hands. Steinway’s craftspeople select the woods for their exquisite color and grain from samples provided by international brokers. They meticulously match the grain from one end of the piano to the other, including across the beveled edge of the lid so that the surfaces appear seamless. Using only veneer from the same flitch to ensure a consistent look across the instrument, an artisan precisely matches the grains of the veneer leaves. The veneer is edge-glued into sheets and pressed onto a substrate base to form panels. The panels are cured for several weeks to allow the veneer to dry and stabilize before they are cut to the specific size and shape needed for application onto the instrument. Before a final finish is applied, the surfaces are sanded, stained and scrupulously color matched. The end result is an astoundingly beautiful, one-of-a-kind piano worthy to be considered a Crown Jewel.
Photos cou r tesy of Steinway & So n s
Greg Sims, Steinway’s Engineering Manager, notes that the veneering process is purely an aesthetic application that has no bearing on the tone or sound quality of the instrument. “Most of the Crown Jewels we make are grand pianos,” he says. “People consider them art pieces as well as musical instruments and they often become a focal point for a great room or an elegant lobby.” For example, a custom Crown Jewel piano was handcrafted for the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. Working with delicate veneers can be tricky. “In certain atmospheric conditions, the veneer becomes dry and very fragile,” Sims said. He also noted that some types of exotic woods present particular challenges. “Teak, for example, is extremely oily which makes it difficult to ensure the glue joints. East Indian Rosewood is also an oily
wood and we apply a special treatment to make sure the glue penetrates completely to achieve good adhesion.” The most popular types of wood used in the Crown Jewel collection are Macassar Ebony, Kewazinga Bubinga and East Indian Rosewood, according to Sims. Macassar Ebony, at roughly $18 per square foot, is currently the most costly veneer used in the collection, followed by East Indian Rosewood. The Steinway Crown Jewel crafting team is currently experimenting with a new concept of contrasting light and dark Macassar Ebony. “It’s a very different appearance from the straight grained Macassar Ebony we have traditionally used,” Sims says. “It is stunningly beautiful and quite popular in Europe. We are keen to see how the uptake will be in the U.S.” IW Steinway & Sons
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