chinchilla persians color

Question
Hi: Mrs. Maclaughlin, I am really hoping you can answer this question for me.  I have an 8 month old Chinchilla male Persian, I have had him since he was 4 months, when he arrived he was lighter in color than he is now, right now his coat seems to be picking up a coppery coloration (on some of the strands on his back) he does not have any tabby markings at all, he has the eyeliner trimming through out his face and his face is a little lighter than his body), however I am a little concerned because I have been reading about their color and he seems to be more silver than white (although I know that he is not suppose to be white white) he seems to be more of a silvery white and the black tipping on the strands of his coat seem to be longer than 1/3 of an inch so I am not sure what color he is, I have spoken with the lady who sold him to me and she assures me that he is Chinchilla I have his papers and his mother is listed as Chinchilla and his father is Shaded Silver  I have seen a photo of his mother although she looks Chinchilla I could not really see her full coat color from the photograph I would appreciate any information you can share with me if you are familiar with the breed.  Thanks:

Answer
Here is the general 'rule of thumb' when trying to determine color.  I would clip some hairs and look at the hair closely.  Chinchillas have coloring just at the very tip of the hair shaft and often appear white as kittens.  In general, though, I would use the chart below:

1/8 of hair length colored at tip - chinchilla/shell
1/4 of hair length colored at tip - shaded
1/2 of hair length colored at tip - smoke

Hope this helps a littl!