Herringbone and chevron both give a surface direction and movement, but they aren't the same thing and the difference matters when you're specifying.
Herringbone is made from rectangles laid at right angles, so the ends are square and the pattern has a slight stagger where pieces meet. Chevron uses tiles cut at an angle so the points align into a continuous V. Herringbone is looser and more traditional; chevron is sharper and reads as more contemporary. Chevron also costs more, because the tiles have to be cut to angle.
There's a second choice inside herringbone that people miss. Short herringbone uses a squarer rectangle and produces a tighter, busier pattern. Long herringbone uses an elongated piece, which stretches the V and gives a calmer, more linear result across a large area. Our Tuscany Travertine and Tuscany Carrara ranges both come in short and long, so it's worth sampling the two side by side — they look like different products on a wall.
Beyond Tuscany, the Marble Express and Euromarmo herringbone mosaics in Carrara, Calacatta Gold, Pietra Grey and Silver Grey cover the more classical end, and there's a Mother of Pearl Angel White herringbone for something with iridescence.
As mosaics on mesh sheets, both patterns become far more practical than laying piece by piece — the setting out is already done, which removes most of the labour cost and most of the risk.
Best on splashbacks and feature walls, where the direction of the pattern has room to be read.
