Farrow and Ball Beetle Black G16

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What are Farrow and Ball Beetle Black undertones?
Is Beetle Black G16 cool or warm?
How light temperature affects on Beetle Black
Complementary color scheme
Color comparison and matching
Color codes
Color equivalents

Official page:	Beetle Black G16
Code:	G16
Name:	Beetle Black
Brand:	Farrow and Ball

What color is Farrow and Ball Beetle Black?

Farrow and Ball Beetle Black G16 is a deep, muted charcoal with a faint cool cast suggested by its blue-grey value. It reads softer than a true black, bringing definition to a room without creating the hard contrast of an inky shade. In bright daylight, its grey character is more apparent, while lower lighting can make it feel considerably darker and more grounded. Use it on cabinetry, interior doors, or a single wall where a dark outline is wanted, and pair it with warm off-whites, pale wood, aged brass, or stone for contrast. On an exterior, Beetle Black can give trim or a front door a restrained, weathered-looking dark finish.

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What are Farrow and Ball Beetle Black undertones?

Beetle Black is a deep, low-saturation grey that reads close to neutral, with a very subtle teal-leaning direction in the supplied digital sample. That slight cool bias is weak enough that it may simply appear as a charcoal-like grey in many settings rather than a distinctly blue-green color. Farrow & Ball describes it as an understated grey inspired by beetle wing casings, but the official description does not name a specific undertone. Warm artificial light may make its grey character feel a little softer, while cool daylight can make its faint cool cast more noticeable.

Manufacturer information used in this description: official color page.

HEX value:

#585C5D

RGB code:

88, 92, 93

Is Farrow and Ball Beetle Black cool or warm?

warm

cool

With a hue of 192°, this black leans cool, but it is near the neutral line and may feel warmer in certain lighting.

G16 Beetle Black HSL code: 192, 3%, 35%

Hue - degree on a color wheel from 0 to 360. 0 is red, 120 is green, and 240 is blue.
Saturation is expressed as a percentage. At 0%, it appears as a shade of grey, and at 100%, it is in full color.
Lightness is also a percentage value. 0% is black, and 100% is white.

How light temperature affects Beetle Black

Natural Lighting. During the day, natural light shifts from about 2000 K at sunrise/sunset to 5500–6500 K at noon.

Sunrise

Morning

Noon

Afternoon

Sunset

In addition, natural-light temperature depends on its direction:

Direction of sunlight	Visible temp.	Hue	Duration
North	Cool	Bluish	All day
East	Warm	Yellow	Before noon
West	Warm	Orange-red	After noon
South	Warm	Orange-yellow	All day

Artificial Lighting. When choosing bulbs, pay attention to their color temperature in Kelvins.
Use the slider to see how this black shade looks under different lighting:

2000K

3000K

4000K

5000K

6000K

7000K

Coordinating colors.
Colors that go with Farrow and Ball Beetle Black:

Complementary color scheme

This color scheme is a combination of two shades that are opposite each other on the color wheel. The high contrast between these colors creates a vibrant and dynamic visual effect. For the color Beetle Black with a green hue, complementary colors are those with a red hue close to 12, such as Farrow and Ball Calamine and Elephant's Breath.

G16
Beetle Black

Compare
Farrow and Ball
Beetle Black G16
to any other colors

Farrow and Ball
Beetle Black G16
color equivalents

Color codes

We have collected almost every possible color code you could ever need.
Not sure what the difference between HEX and RGB is? We break down color models in plain language. Understanding color models

Format	Code
HEX	#585c5d
RGB Decimal	88, 92, 93
RGB Percent	34.51%, 36.08%, 36.47%
HSV	Hue: 192° Saturation: 5.38% Value: 36.47%
HSL	hsl(192, 2.76, 35.49)
CMYK	Cyan: 5.38 Magenta: 1.08 Yellow: 0.0 Key: 63.53
YIQ	Y: 90.918 I: -2.705 Q: -0.535
XYZ	X: 9.827 Y: 10.519 Z: 11.866
CIE Lab	L:38.759 a:-1.356 b:-1.119
CIE Luv	L:38.759 u:-2.221 v:-1.236
Decimal	5790813
Hunter Lab	32.433, -2.675, 1.012