Colour me tartan - Emerald October

Emerald is one of my favourite colours so I am delighted to see it quoted as the perfect palette for autumn accessories. May's birthstone has a luxurious feel to it that seems to work so well across so many different fabrics.

Lush greens are all over the catwalk and combined with flashes of black and silver this is a colour that compliments every skin tone. Green is a very popular colour in the tartan world found in around 50% of the patterns we stock. The emerald shades are found in the Modern tartanswhereas the Ancient shades are lighter, softer hues with the Weathered tartans full of olives and faded greens verging on grey. So why are the modern tartans called modern? They are exactly the same pattern but just different shades of the conventional colours associated with that tartan. Modern dying techniques using chemicals rather than natural plant extracts mean the colours are much stronger and bolder and have been in use since about 1855.

And now for our top 5 emerald facts:

1. Emerald is the traditional gift for your 55th wedding anniversary if you live in America
2. Our most popular emerald green tartan is Barclay Hunting Modern
3. The first known emeralds were mined in Egypt around 1500 BC
4. The Duke of Devonshire Emerald is one of the largest uncut emeralds weighing 1,383.93 carats
5. The Northern Emerald is one of 3 species of dragonfly only found in Scotland