A Diamond Takes The Rough

The Rolls-Royce of yesteryear was built to sparkle on the circular driveways of great estates, chauffeur at the ready. The marque’s new SUV is built to change that.

- Jaclyn Trop

“It ’s the first Rolls-Royce that looks better dirty,” says the brand’s CEO, Torsten MüllerÖtvös, as he overlooks a small fleet of the marque’s first SUV model, dubbed Cullinan—the three vehicles suitably caked in mud and dust from a daylong romp around Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. “It’s a remarkable departure for the brand.”

Cullinan, named for the largest gem-quality rough diamond ever found, nominally starts at $325,000, but no Rolls-Royce is delivered in its base form: One can add tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to the price in bespoke paint, leather, woodwork, or custom cabinetry.

That’s all in the service of distinguishing it from luxury SUV segment leader Range Rover, whose offerings have grown increasingly grand in recent years but can’t touch the opulence of its rival from Goodwood. If anyone was going to be the “Rolls-Royce of SUVs”, it was going to be Rolls-Royce.

While Cullinan will no doubt find its way into the valet lots of Beverly Hills and Bahrain, it’s built for much more.