Hey DG,
As you may suspect, the original mfr. will be the exact match.
* From my experience matching with our scanners, "color-matching" is often "quite-good", but NOT ALWAYS by any means.
* Bottom-line, matching is never 100%.
* I don't know what kind of colorant system F&B uses, but most (U.S.) mfr's. (except C2 & BM's Aura) use a typical 10-12 colorant system.
* C2 has 16 colorants...4 of them are High-strength versions of the "normal" colors. Therefore, it's easy to get real close matches INTO C2, but hard to match C2 into a "standard" paint.
* It may be a similiar situation w/ F&B.

Summarizing...You're not gonna get an exact Escalade appearance from Chevrolet parts...

Faron

Matching F & B will probably not work as well as you would like. IMO paint is such an inexpensive way to change your look that it is worth even $30 or so a gallon more if you need to spend it to get what you want.

Someone posted this and I've been using it a lot. You can find the closest match between two manufacturers paint or browse colors.

Here is a link that might be useful: Colorchart

I also love F&B colours and colour matched their Dorset Cream at Home Depot useing Behr paint. I painted most of my downstairs this colour and it came out great. I love the colour and I am about to do it again with one of their blues for my bedroom. You will save yourself a lot of money.

I'll give you the experience of two of my friends. I used alot of F&B paint in my house and they both loved it. They each went and tried to match F&B colors that they like in order to save a little money. In the case of one, they couldn't match it to her satisfaction and she went with something else altogether from another company and it's beautiful. The second one bought the so called match, and ended up repainting with F&B and is over the moon happy. It's not just the color either, the quality and feel of F&B paint is superlative.

You can have beautiful color and a good paint job with other brands. But if you're in love with an F&B color, I recommend getting the F&B.

Ivette

Similar experiences as Ivette. Actually have an entire house rennovation where we initially spec'd a boutique brand of paint, but the budget is becoming an issue and alternatives may be necessary.

I suggested we start over and rework the color plan with a palette from another, less expensive brand. I have been down the path of trying to match the finer brand's colors one too many times. It's a pain and inevitably causes more problems and costs more money than the extra four cents per square foot it would have cost to buy the real deal to begin with.

Also, I think you have to be rather flexible about your "match". As long as you're not too picky, I suppose you can come up with a match that's good enough. For whatever reason, some colors are easier to match than others and am sure color matching to some of the luxury brand's colors does indeed work out on occassion.

FWIW, never, ever try to custom match Ellen Kennon's Slate! lol! :-)

I color matched F&B China Blue with BM. It is awful and I'm about to paint over it. I did successfully match all the Martha Stewart colors with BM and the results were excellent. So it may be that color to that brand.

On Ivette's advice (she's my paint guru) and on amysrq's as well, I painted one room with a F&B color that was immediately a good and solid choice when the sample went up. The results are super. As amysrq rightly said, the texture of F&B is very velvety and has a special depth. This makes a lovely difference in the room, which is quite small. I would definitely use their paint again even though it is annoying that the color samples appear to differ from the paint. Also, the paint range is quite muted which can be problemmatic in some rooms of my house.

F&B is nearly double the cost of the BM. But I think the result is so good it's been worthwhile spending the additonnal money (for me as I'm repainting certain spaces). It might not be cost effective for everyone.

I have been very happy with BM colors though less happy with the way the exterior paint is wearing. I'm planning to redo the porch with the Fine Paints of Europe enamel.

I own a third generation family owned Benjamin Moore Paint store. I just came across this forum by accident, but as I read it I began to feel like I needed to straighten things up. ANY F&B color, or any color for that matter, can be made with Benjamin Moore paint, and most others. The computer will probably not be accurate, but if you go to a paint store that has employees that have enough experience with matching colors by eye, they can match a color much more accurately than a computer. I don't mean just picking a color chip thats close. I mean someone that looks at the color chip and comes up with his own formula. It generally takes more time to do, but that is the correct way to do it. And the color will match the color chip perfectly. Now that's not saying that the color will look the same in your room, but the paint will match the chip. Don't let anyone tell you any differently.

I think it's incredibly misleading to tell people that any paint store can match any paint color, because I know it's absolutely not true. I work nationally, with over 20 different brands of paint and know each palette like the back of my hand. Your BenM store may indeed be skilled in this area, but FEW paint stores/staff are. Very few.

It's a choice people have to make. Can choose to give it a shot. Go into the paint store armed with chips/samples and patience with the understanding that you MIGHT get lucky and get a spot-on match, but there's a very real possiblity that it will be a complete waste of time. Paint bases differ and that's just the tip of iceberg as to what there is to battle in getting a perfect match.

Matt, if you have specific examples you can share where you have been successful in matching colors from the luxury brand's palettes, I'd love to see pictures of the side-by-side comparisons and hear about the process. It's wonderful that your store is able to offer that skill set and service to your customers, it truly is a specialty.

I kinda agree with Matt & Fun-C...

At least in our store, computer-matching is the only option "time-wise". Our scanners usually get real close, & we do "human" corrections after that!

* But to have someone fuss over a color for maybe an hour...isn't an option 90% of the time.
* Many people think they'll be on their way in 5 minutes. AIN'T gonna happen with some matches!!
* If we're busy, we have to ask them if it's OK to pick up their color later, so we can have time to "tweak" if necessary.
* I'm very comfortable using the BM & SW C2-equivalents in our software library on the C2 tinter. VERY-CLOSE, if not dead-on matches every time I've had to make a SW or BM color into C2.
* I've heard of some stores starting to CHARGE for paint-matching!!! Mainly because it can be tedious getting a color right. Also, it lessens the time store personnel can spend with other sales worth a lot more money than a $12 Quart!

>>> I KNOW that was a controversial point there!!! I almost didn't put that in...I'm on the fence on this issue.
>>> I s'pose it's like a car lot...where do you want your staff's attention most of the time?
>>> I'd rather lose a $12 Quart...than someone waiting for advice on a $500 paint & access. sale. Thankfully, this rarely happens, but....

Faron

I've had the same experience as Ivette with my SIL who has several millions but dagnabit gotta save a few bucks on that paint don't cha' know!! She loved F&B Light Blue that did in the house we have for sale so she had it color matched in BM. Well she kept coming over going *Mine doesn't look like that...mine isn't like this"..yup. So now it's 30 bucks plus several hours spent repainting. Listen, just try a gallon of it, if you don't, you'll never really know! :) Plus, it's fun!
KAT

The store that matched my F&B China Blue with BM also did my other matching. They are excellent and everything else came out just fine.

F&B does not match well, you don't get the exact color or any of the nuance. Plus you don't get the texture of it which is very different. It's like saying a Fine Paints of Europe texture is the same as another high gloss. It's not.

So there is more than just color to consider, in my experience.

Giaarch, I am also trying to match Hague Blue, but I think it’s just going to come down to me buying the real deal. It’s such a rich and gorgeous color. I think I’d be sad and always know what I’m missing out on. I think BM Gentleman’s Gray is close and very pretty, but not the same.

You cannot match Full Spectrum paint with regular paint. Full Stop. It will never look the same because FS uses multiple colorants and no blacks or greys. Regular paints use basic pigments and black and grey. black absorbs light, it does not reflect it. FS reflects light. So while they can match the color in a sort of flat way, its not possible to make it look the same.