Artisans from Bentley Motors who visited the UAE late last year have praised the skills of local dhow builders in the UAE who gave them a first-hand demonstration of their expertise when they visited the Middle East’s oldest yard in the Al Jadaf area of Dubai. 

In the region to demonstrate Bentley’s handcraft skills in wood and leather, experts from the British luxury motoring brand received a personal demonstration from some of the region’s most accomplished wooden boat builders.

David Maddocks, an expert wood craftsman of the veneers Bentley is famed for, and Noel Thompson, a coach trimmer who joined the manufacturer as an apprentice when the founder W O Bentley was still alive, also demonstrated their wares to local craftsmen at the Obaid Bin Juma Bin Suloom boatyard, located on the edge of Dubai Creek. 

Fine craftsmanship is at the heart of every Bentley with the term “hand-built” being no idle claim – it represents a world of expertise and experience in the creation of its exquisite cars by master craftsmen at the Bentley factory in the UK. 

Similarly, the UAE boatyard prides itself on continuing to employ the traditional hand-building methods perfected over the generations. It is this respect for the “old ways” of doing things and the passion for craft shared by artisans around the world that compelled the two Bentley veterans to pay a visit.

While the Bentley boys showed the local Dubai craftsmen how they ply their trade back at Bentley’s headquarters in Crewe, displaying the fine handiwork of the stitching and trimming customised steering wheels and wood marquetry, they were treated to a quick tutorial in dhow-building. In an interactive demonstration, they were shown the carpentry techniques used in creating the hulls and cabins of the all-wood vessels – all of which reinforced their appreciation of traditions local to the region. 

Thompson said: “At Bentley, we pass on our skills from generation to generation. Whether it is the wood craftsmanship that lets us mirror-match beautiful wood veneers, or the hand-stitching of supple leather around a steering wheel, there is a rare attention to detail that is only made possible by using traditional skills in wood, paint and leather. So it was a real honour to to be able witness traditional Arabian craftsmanship, a skill that needs to be experienced first-hand to fully appreciate it.”

Obaid Bin Juma Bin Suloom Launch Repairing Establishment is run by brothers Ahmed and Majid Al Falasi. Within their family they represent the third generation of boat-builders and are keen to pass on the business to a fourth. This dedication to an intergenerational transfer of skills was recognised by both the British craftsmen in the approach used in their own workshops in the UK.