For the new Wraith Kryptos Collection, Rolls-Royce invites clients to decipher encrypted messages within unique new Collection Car
Rolls-Royce Collection Cars are poetic embodiments of artistry and skill, envisioned at the hands of the marque’s accomplished designers. They are illustrative of the Bespoke Collective’s mastery of their craft, and extremely limited in number. Incorporating only the finest materials and contemporary applications, Rolls-Royce Collection Cars are executed with creative passion and technical precision. These cars capture clients’ imaginations around the world, joining the chronicles of some of the greatest and most storied Rolls-Royces ever to have been created.
Design is naturally the starting point for these endeavours. For the new Wraith Kryptos Collection, one designer’s passion for cryptography led to Wraith becoming a willing canvas for an intricate and clandestine design. The Wraith Kryptos Collection, which will consist of just 50 motor cars, incorporates a labyrinth of complex ciphers into its beguiling façade.
Rolls-Royce Bespoke Designer, Katrin Lehmann, said, “The name Kryptos is derived from Ancient Greek, referring to something unseen, hidden and coded, mythical even. Ciphers can be traced through millennia, capturing the imagination of some of the world’s most brilliant minds. As a designer, I’ve always been fascinated by the notion that you can communicate messages that are understood by only an elite few, using symbols, pictograms, and ciphers. Finding the key becomes integral to appreciating the full meaning of an item that can otherwise be viewed simply as a work of art.”
The Wraith Kryptos Collection carries within it an encrypted cipher that evolves throughout the car for the clients’ pleasure and amusement, leading them on a journey of discovery and intrigue. To the uninitiated, these ciphers appear, on the surface at least, to be an alluring design purely for aesthetic purposes and devoid of any discernible pattern. However, for those that look closer, those few who hold the key, they will embark on an experience that leads to an enlightening conclusion.
Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, said, “The brilliant and creative minds of our Rolls-Royce Bespoke Collective have excelled once again, creating an extraordinarily contemporary and compelling iteration of Wraith. The Wraith Kryptos Collection is a statement of dynamism. On closer examination, a series of messages are hidden behind a unique Rolls-Royce cipher. I look forward to seeing whether any of our clients will crack the code!”
As a matter of fact, the code is so secret that only the designer and the CEO at the Home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood know the full resolution of the sequence. The answer has been placed in a sealed envelope, in the safe of the CEO, at the Home of Rolls-Royce, in Goodwood, West Sussex. Clients will be invited to submit their efforts at cracking the code via the members only Rolls-Royce mobile app, Whispers.
The cryptographic journey begins with the Spirit of Ecstasy, which has graced the bonnet of the marque’s motor cars for over a century. An engraving with green enamel detailing introduces the Rolls-Royce cipher on the base of the enigmatic figurine. Below, recrafted bumper inserts draw the eye lower, subtly modifying both the gesture and posture of Wraith, giving this Collection an identity of its own.
The alluring colors offered in the collection hints at the car’s inner-most secrets. Delphic Grey, a Bespoke exterior hue consisting of a solid Anthracite base colour has a hidden effect – only in sunlight do the blue and green mica flakes appear. This effect is accentuated by a hand-painted double coachline, the upper being painted in the newly developed Kryptos Green while the lower acts as a shadow in Dark Grey, both depicting clues relating to the interior code. Completing the exterior aesthetic are part polished wheels, with Orbit Grey coloured centres featuring a coloured pinstripe.
Inside, stepping over the illuminated treadplates, the cipher evolves deep into the fabric of the motor car. One is immediately greeted by the accented Bespoke Kryptos Green leather hue, which has been developed to incorporate a metallic effect, set against either Selby Grey or Anthracite. In perhaps the most apparent clue, elements of the cipher are embroidered into Wraith’s headrests, where the customary ‘double-R’ emblem can so often be found. For the driver’s enjoyment, an intriguing screen print flows across the metal fascia, spanning the width of the interior.
Rolls-Royce is delighted to unveil this new generation of Collection Car; one that brings with it an entertaining challenge that will be sure to delight.
