Rolls-Royce unveiled the La Rose Noire Droptail at Monterey Car Week and now they’re following up with the debut of the Amethyst Droptail.
Billed as a “breathtaking coachbuilt masterpiece that celebrates its … client’s cultural heritage, family legacy and personal passions,” the Amethyst Droptail is the second in a series of four cars.
It was commissioned by a customer “whose family business has grown from a gemstone boutique to a multinational corporation with diversified interests.” If that didn’t scream uber rich, Rolls-Royce added the mysterious owner has a “collection of precious jewels, significant motor cars, and contemporary artworks … housed in a specially commissioned private museum.”
More: Coachbuilt Rolls-Royce Droptail Unveiled In Monterey As An Ultra-Exclusive Roadster
While their identity remains a mystery for now, Rolls-Royce says the client wanted a car inspired by amethyst gems which are the “birthstone of their son and an enduring symbol of purity, clarity and resilience.” Given that, it’s not surprising to learn that precious amethysts are actually incorporated into the interior and exterior.
Speaking of the latter, the car has a two-tone paint job that draws inspiration from the Globe Amaranth wildflower that blooms in the desert near one of the client’s homes. Rolls-Royce says the design “captures multiple stages of the flower’s bloom” as the body has a soft purple hue with a delicate silver undertone that is “enhanced with fine flecks of powdered aluminum that reflect the light and create a captivating iridescent finish.” It’s contrasted by darker purple accents that contain a blend of red, blue and violet mica flakes to create a “unique mauve color with a subtle metallic sheen.”
Putting the paint job aside, the coachbuilt model rides on special 22-inch wheels and has a Pantheon grille that features a brushed and polished finish. They’re joined by a carbon fiber lower section that has a “fine layer of lacquer tinted with Amethyst pigment, which in most lights reads as body color” and speaks of the “client’s passion for subtlety and restraint.”
That’s just the tip of the iceberg as the Spirit of Ecstasy is surrounded by amethyst cabochons. Rolls-Royce said the cabochon treatment sees a gemstone “shaped and polished into a rounded form rather than faceted” to “avoid a conspicuous sparkle.”
More notably, the concept’s veneer deck is the “largest wood surface ever produced by Rolls-Royce” and is also the “only aerodynamically functional wood surface on a new motor car.” This meant aerodynamicists and wood specialists had to work together to “experiment with not just the form of the panel, but with different wood-grain textures and the precise angle of the placement of the veneer itself” to get the look and downforce just right.
Besides the wooden deck, the car is equipped with a removable hardtop. However, this is bespoke as well as it features colored electrochromic glass. As the company explained, “when deactivated, it is completely opaque and has a subtle purple tint, mirroring the motor car’s Amethyst exterior finish.” However, once the glass is activated, it becomes translucent with a hue that matches the Sand Dunes color used in the interior.
Moving inside, we can see a two-tone cabin with the “most extensive wooden surface area” in the company’s history. Calamander Light open-pore wood trim extends from the “fascia and doors to the shawl panel, cantilevered ‘plinth’ center armrest, and onto the aft deck.”
The special touches don’t end there as amethyst gems are integrated into the instrument cluster and controls. Elsewhere, there are woven leather floor mats and an exquisite Swiss timepiece named the Les Cabinotiers Armillary Tourbillon. It features a hand-wound movement, amethyst-colored inserts, and a white-gold baseplate with a hand-crafted sunburst guilloché pattern.
Rolls-Royce didn’t mention performance specifications, but they don’t matter as the Amethyst Droptail is a piece of art and “one of the most historically significant Rolls-Royces ever built.”
