By Cam Tait \/ Friday, 25 August 2023 \/ Loading comments<\/p>\n
What does the owner of a multinational gemstone company do when they\u2019ve got many millions of pounds tucked down the back of the sofa? Commission a bespoke Rolls-Royce Droptail brimming with glitzy stones, of course.<\/p>\n
Meet the Amethyst, the second of four unique takes on the coachbuilt Rolls-Royce Droptail that debuted in Monterey a week ago. It\u2019ll come as no surprise that the company is keeping the identity of the client close to its chest, although it has revealed that they\u2019re the owner of a family-run gemstone company, a collector of \u2018significant motor cars\u2019 and that the amethyst gem is the birthstone of their son. And, putting two and two together here, reasonably well off, too.<\/p>\n
Naturally, the purple amethyst stone plays a key role in its vehicular namesake. For instance, the Spirit of Ecstasy is surrounded by amethyst \u2018cabochons\u2019, which is gemstone lingo for a process whereby the stone is polished to a more rounded finish than a faceted one. This came at the request of the buyer, who wanted to \u2018avoid a conspicuous sparkle.\u2019 More amethysts cabochons feature inside, placed in the centre of the rotary dials at the base of the dashboard. The colour of the gemstone is mirrored throughout the cabin, with new \u2018Amethyst\u2019 purple leather forming the primary hue of the interior, which is contrasted with Sand Dunes highlights and Calamander Light open-pore wood veneer.<\/p>\n
Speaking of wood, there\u2019s clearly quite a lot of it at the back of the car. It\u2019s functional, less so as a surface to sunbathe on while parked up at Monaco\u2019s harbour, and more so from the aerodynamic side of things. The British marque says its \u2018aerodynamicists and wood specialists worked closely together\u2019 (a sentence you\u2019ll unlikely read anywhere else) to find the right textures and angles of the panels to help clean up airflow towards the rear of the car. According to Rolls-Royce, it\u2019s the only car in the world that generates downforce using a raw wood surface.<\/p>\n
The biggest surprise, however, is that the Droptail isn\u2019t just a rebodied Phantom with the roof cut off; it\u2019s said to be based on an all-new carbon, aluminium and steel monocoque that\u2019s bespoke to the Droptail. It isn’t electric like the Spectre, either, instead making use of the firm\u2019s twin turbocharged V12. Rolls-Royce hasn\u2019t stated any power figures, but suffice it to say it has enough for brisk levels of waft.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithin Rolls-Royce design, Amethyst Droptail will stand in our history as a representation of how accurate our creative response can be in projecting the soul of an individual commissioning client through both literal and highly conceptual expressions of personal luxury\u201d, says design director Anders Warming. It\u2019ll also go down as one of the firm\u2019s most expensive commissions, with rumours suggesting the price tag totals somewhere in the tens of millions. If a purple Rolls-Royce is all you\u2019re after, you could always go for this Ghost Black Badge for only <\/em>\u00a3374,950. Mind you, it doesn\u2019t come with aerodynamic wood decking. <\/p>\n