* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars presents Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail
* Extraordinary coachbuilt project is inspired by the birthstone of the patron’s son
* Incorporates exquisite celebration of painstaking craft and focussed minimalism
* Veneer aft deck is the largest wood surface ever produced by Rolls-Royce
* Rear section is the only aerodynamically functional wood surface on a new motor car
* Precious amethyst gems are incorporated into interior and exterior
* First time both brushed and polished finish have been applied to Pantheon grille
* Finish inspired by haute horlogerie, referencing client’s Vacheron Constantin timepiece
* Unveiled to commissioning client at private event in Gstaad, Switzerland

“This stunning expression of Rolls-Royce Droptail truly captures the soul of its commissioning client. This distinguished and international individual exemplifies connoisseurship, and their global outlook, refined tastes and deep-rooted heritage were a broadening pleasure to explore. The extraordinary projection of their spirit, captured in Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail, is a clear statement of Rolls-Royce Coachbuild’s intent: to collaborate profoundly as a means to produce an historic expression of applied art. It is the client’s personal involvement that gives Coachbuild motor cars their unparalleled strength of character. These products reflect an exceptional clarity of vision, executed with absolute conviction. Amethyst Droptail captures these virtues in extremis.”
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars

“A Coachbuilt Rolls-Royce derives its identity and legend from the accomplishments, sensibilities and character of its owner. It is this human dimension, combined with highly progressive design, that makes it entirely unique and irreplaceable.

AMETHYST DROPTAIL

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is honoured to present Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail – a breathtaking coachbuilt masterpiece that celebrates its commissioning client’s cultural heritage, family legacy and personal passions.

One of four unique expressions of the Rolls-Royce Droptail, Amethyst Droptail is a truly elevated expression of applied art, commissioned by a patron whose family business has grown from a gemstone boutique to a multinational corporation with diversified interests. Exceptionally well-travelled, internationally educated and truly global in their inspirations, the client is an established patron of the arts, whose collection of precious jewels, significant motor cars and contemporary artworks are housed in a specially commissioned private museum.

The patron tasked Coachbuild designers to create an elegant expression of Droptail inspired by the amethyst gem – the birthstone of their son and an enduring symbol of purity, clarity and resilience; themes that are explored throughout this exceptional motor car in extraordinary depth. The client’s passion for quiet artistry and subtle flourishes is what defines Amethyst Droptail – a projection of true connoisseurship that rewards those who study it with beguiling details.

Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail was unveiled to the commissioning client, their family and friends at a private event in Gstaad, Switzerland – a region of particular significance for the patron.

A FLOWER IN THE DESERT

The patron and co-creator of Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail expressed a profound desire to celebrate the cultural heritage of their home region. Rolls-Royce Coachbuild designers responded with an inspiration point that would define this Droptail’s exterior treatment: the Globe Amaranth wildflower, which blooms in the desert near one of the client’s homes.

The duotone exterior paint finish captures multiple stages of the flower’s bloom. The main body colour is a soft purple hue with a delicate silver undertone, named Globe Amaranth in tribute to the flower, and is enhanced with fine flecks of powdered aluminium that reflect the light and create a captivating iridescent finish. A deep purple Amethyst contrast paint, which is used on the motor car’s upper coachwork, contains a blend of red, blue and violet mica flakes that together create a unique mauve colour with a subtle metallic sheen.

In sunlight, the motor car also reveals a gentle hint of mauve paint on the inside of the 22-inch wheels, providing a subtle but elegant contrast to the mirror-polished aluminium surface; a touch that the client compared to the colourful lining of their favourite bespoke jacket.

The exterior is finished with a subtle but highly complex treatment to the carbon fibre used to construct the lower sections of the motor car. The result of two years of development, the marque’s craftspeople created a chevron pattern book-matched along two axes, which adds geometric decoration to Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail’s technical exterior surfaces. The carbon fibre itself is finished with a fine layer of lacquer tinted with Amethyst pigment, which in most lights reads as body colour. This intricate and technically demanding detail is hidden until the motor car is closely scrutinised, speaking of the client’s passion for subtlety and restraint.

CELEBRATION OF MATERIALS

Rolls-Royce Amethyst Droptail celebrates the materials and crafts personally curated by the commissioning client and his family. The material selection began with a sample of wood offered by the client – a stunning Calamander Light open-pore wood, which has a complex texture and long bands of colour.

The colours of the client’s initial wood sample served as the inspiration for the motor car’s leather treatment – the gently contrasting leather, in the aptly named Sand Dunes hue, was developed to perfectly match the caramel strands on the Calamander Light open-pore wood. Following this, wood specialists were challenged to source material with bands in precisely the same colour as the leather, a task that took more than six months to resolve, requiring specialists to review more than 100 logs before the perfect piece was discovered.

The primary leather hue, named Amethyst, complements the exterior surface and is finished with a subtle pearlescent lacquer, reminiscent of the brilliance of the precious gemstone after which the motor car is named.

For Amethyst Droptail, Rolls-Royce has created the most extensive wooden surface area in its history, with the material extending from the motor car’s fascia and doors to the shawl panel, cantilevered ‘plinth’ centre armrest and onto the aft deck.

To complete the interior treatment, the client requested an elegant addition: the adornment of the rotary dials with rare amethyst gems. As with the gems at the base of the Spirit of Ecstasy figurine, they too are shaped in a convex cabochon style rather than faceted. The stunning depth and clarity of each stone is of a standard usually reserved for fine jewellery. Each stone was examined by experts within the client’s organisation before they were personally and individually approved by the client. The interior suite is resolved with woven leather floormats – a subtle tribute to the traditional weaving crafts found for centuries in the souks of the client’s original home region.

BESPOKE, ELEVATED

A removable hard top has been designed to give Rolls-Royce Droptail two distinct characters: without its roof, Droptail is a lithe, open-top roadster; with the roof installed, it is a formidable and dramatic coupé.

The roof incorporates electrochromic glass that allows the surface to change colour and transparency instantly. The client challenged Coachbuild designers to develop a glass that would alter its hue in order to correspond with the colourway of Amethyst Droptail. In response, the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective developed a unique chameleon effect for its electrochromic glass: when deactivated, it is completely opaque and has a subtle purple tint, mirroring the motor car’s Amethyst exterior finish. Once the glass is activated at the touch of a button, it becomes translucent with a hue that matches the Sand Dunes leather colour used in the interior suite. The realisation of this extraordinary flourish required specialists to experiment with 60 iterations of glass colouring before a perfect match was found.

Source: Roll-Royce media

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