Asian Group Colouration
All breeds within the Asian Group are recognised in 21 possible colours:
Three base colours: Black, Chocolate and Cinnamon
Dilutes of these: Blue, Lilac and Fawn
‘Dilution-modified’ caramels of the dilutes: Blue-Based Caramel, Lilac-Based Caramel and Fawn-Based Caramel
Torties of all the above
Red series: Red, Cream and the dilution-modified version of Cream, Apricot.
All of these can be either ‘Full Expression’ (FEX) or ‘Burmese Colour Restriction’ (BCR), where the colour is paled slightly (e.g. black becomes brown) and the head, tail and legs are slightly darker than the body (the ‘pointing’ effect is more obvious on the chocolates and lilacs than the browns and blues).
Asian Selfs/Torties
These are non-agouti cats without the silver gene. Historically these were only permitted in the FEX colours with the BCRs being registered as 'Asian Variants' (because they're identical to Burmese) and unable to be shown, but the BCRs should hopefully be joining the FEXs in the AOV Non-Agouti class soon. We've only had two Selfs/Torties (a Black/Bombay and a Chocolate Tortie) and half-a-dozen Variants (three Brown BCR, one Chocolate BCR and two Brown Tortie BCR).
Asian Smokes
These are also non-agouti cats but also have the silver gene. They should look identical to an equivalent-coloured Self/Tortie until the coat is parted, when the sparkling silver (white) undercoat becomes visible. We've bred 19 Smokes in a range of colours (Black, Chocolate, Brown BCR, Chocolate BCR, Lilac BCR, Cinnamon BCR and Chocolate Tortie BCR), and our Donny (IGrCh Cagaran Deathach-Donn, Brown BCR Smoke) was the first Asian Smoke to win the Imperial title, while Brodie (UK IGrCh & UK IGrPr Cagaran Plathach, Black Smoke) was the first to win the UK title (and the first of any Asian variety to go double UK, winning the title as both an adult and a neuter).
Asian Shaded (Burmillas)
These are 'shaded' cats, meaning that the pigment colour is pushed to the tip of the hair. They still have an underlying tabby pattern and kittens often show 'ghostmarkings'. They can be either standard ('golden' base coat) or silver (white base coat), and very lightly-marked Burmillas are referred to as 'tipped'. We've bred 30 Burmillas in a range of colours (Silver Tipped in Chocolate BCR, Apricot BCR, and Chocolate Tortie BCR; Standard Shaded in Cream, Chocolate BCR and Cinnamon BCR; and Silver Shaded in Chocolate, Caramel, Caramel Tortie, Brown BCR, Chocolate BCR, Lilac BCR, Caramel BCR, Red BCR, Cream BCR, Apricot BCR, Chocolate Tortie BCR and Lilac Tortie BCR).
Asian Tabbies
These can be any of the known tabby patterns: Ticked (where each hair is banded instead of their being an overall pattern, though they often have most attractive stripes on their heads and legs), Spotted, Mackerel (narrow, vertical stripes), and Classic (swirled/blotched/marbled). Like the Burmillas, they can be either Standard ('golden') or Silver. We've bred over 50 Tabbies in a range of colours and all four patterns (Ticked in Black, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Cream, Chocolate Tortie, Lilac Tortie, Brown BCR, Chocolate BCR, Brown Tortie BCR, Chocolate Tortie BCR, Black Silver, Chocolate Silver, Brown BCR Silver, and Brown Tortie BCR Silver; Spotted in Chocolate, Cinnamon, Black Tortie, Chocolate Tortie, Brown BCR, Lilac BCR, Cinnamon BCR, Caramel BCR, Chocolate Silver, Cinnamon Silver, and Brown BCR Silver; Mackerel in Chocolate BCR; and Classic in Cinnamon, Red, Black Tortie, and Chocolate Tortie).
Asian Semi-Longhairs (Tiffanies)
These come in all colours and patterns available in the Asian Group, meaning that there are well over 600 different colour and pattern combinations available. Non-agouti BCR Tiffanies were never classed as Variants, because their longer coat set them apart from their Burmese cousins. We've only bred 60 Tiffanies (a lot of our kittens are shorthairs carrying the longhair gene, because of the endless quest to keep inbreeding levels low), but they've displayed an astonishing 46 different colour/pattern combinations (Black, Chocolate, Lilac, Chocolate Tortie, Brown BCR, Chocolate BCR, Black Smoke, Brown BCR Smoke, Blue BCR Smoke, Chocolate BCR Smoke, Apricot BCR Smoke, Brown Tortie BCR Smoke, Chocolate Tortie BCR Smoke, Apricot BCR Silver Tipped, Black Shaded, Chocolate Shaded, Red Shaded, Cream Shaded, Chocolate BCR Shaded, Lilac BCR Shaded, Red BCR Shaded, Chocolate Tortie BCR Shaded, Black Silver Shaded, Chocolate Silver Shaded, Lilac Silver Shaded, Caramel Silver Shaded, Red Silver Shaded, Apricot Silver Shaded, Chocolate Tortie Silver Shaded, Brown BCR Silver Shaded, Chocolate BCR Silver Shaded, Lilac BCR Silver Shaded, Caramel BCR Silver Shaded, Cream BCR Silver Shaded, Brown Tortie BCR Silver Shaded, Chocolate Tortie BCR Silver Shaded, Black Ticked, Chocolate Tortie Ticked, Black Silver Ticked, Red Silver Ticked, Apricot Silver Ticked, Brown BCR Silver Spotted, Chocolate BCR Silver Spotted, Chocolate Tortie BCR Classic, Brown BCR Silver Classic, and Chocolate BCR Silver Classic)!