Measuring sparkling blues without blues

Blue effect coatings produced by using different silver-white effect pigments can be characterized by their optical properties. Effect pigments have been used in automotive coatings for decades. Only recently new measurement devices have been developed for the quantitative characterization of their appearance. Effect pigments have been used in automotive coatings for decades. Only recently new measurement devices have been developed for the quantitative characterization of their appearance. A color shift from the more reddish blue tone of the reference panel to a greenish blue was observed in all effect coatings. This shift in color hue is not yet clearly understood, but has been seen before. This example shows that the prediction of effect-coating colors based on their pigment components is only possible to a certain degree. The dark-field images of higher pigment concentrations demonstrate clearly an increasing number of particles with orientations deviating from parallel alignment.