They are known for their blue (silver-grey) water-resistant short hair double coats which are often slightly thick in texture (often showing "breaks" like a sheepskin) and orange or copper-coloured eyes.

For example, a Chartreux born in 2021 would have an official name starting with the letter S.[2] The Chartreux is mentioned for the first time in 1558 by Joachim du Bellay in a poem entitled Vers Français sur la mort d'un petit chat, or "French verse on the death of a small cat" in English.

[5] But in 1972, the Prior of the Grande Chartreuse denied that the monastery's archives held any records of the monks' use of any breed of cat resembling the Chartreux.

[6] Legend also has it that the Chartreux's ancestors were feral mountain cats from what is now Syria, brought back to France by returning Crusaders in the 13th century, many of whom entered the Carthusian monastic order.

Chartreux cats tend to be quiet, rarely making noises such as meowing or crying, and some are even completely mute.