The original most prevalent color of chinchilla is of course the standard grey, sometimes referred to as "natural". It ranges from pale grey to almost black on top. The extra dark standards are more sought after for breeding.
The color mutations were born on chinchilla ranches starting in the 1940's , but the first important mutation was born in 1955. A white male was born on a ranch in North Carolina and his name was Whitie. He was a very prolific breeder and when bred with standard grey females they sometimes produced white kits with black tipped ears and black eyes. Whitie's line was known as the Wilson Whites. When mating a Wilson White to a standard they would sometimes produce Mosaics; white with patches of grey.
Another mutation born in 1955 was a little beige female bred by Ned Jensen. He was not interested in working with the color and offered to sell her to other breeders. Another chinchilla rancher decided to buy her. His name was Nick Tower. When he got her she was small, thin, weak and had severe dental problems. He clipped and shaped her teeth so she could eat better, but her teeth were very sensitive so he modified her feed to help her get stronger. He worked with her for 6 months and paired her with a standard female. She gave birth to a healthy beige male and he became an excellent breeder. The beiges from this line were known as "Crown of Sunset Beiges". Today they are referred to as Tower Beiges.
A ranch is the state of Washington, Bob Gunning, bought an animal in 1956 that was called a "Dirty Face" because of the extra dark markings around the mouth and eyes. Through careful breeding he was able to produce offspring that had the black color on the top of the head and all the way across the top back to the tail. This color mutation is called a black velvet, Gunning Black or just black. This animal has a white belly and grey flecked sides.
In the mid 1960's a mutation with a violet color was born in Rhodesia, known as Zimbabwe today, Africa. The herd of violets was sold when the owner fled the civil war in Rhodesia. The herd was shipped to California and kept at the Loyd Sullivan Ranch. This mutation was called Sullivan Violets.
The first sapphire was born in 1963 on the Merle Larsen Ranch in Indiana.
Tasco Charcoals (now known as the true Ebony Mutation); First bred by Otto Munn of Texas, in 1964.
